


Happy Little Accident

by nishiki



Series: Happy Little Accident [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, Domestic Fluff, Dysfunctional Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Family Secrets, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Klaus has secrets, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Soft Allison Hargreeves, Soft Ben Hargreeves, Soft Diego Hargreeves, Soft Luther Hargreeves, Soft Vanya Hargreeves, alternate take on season 1, everyone is soft, mature Klaus Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24809044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: Thirteen years ago, Klaus left his family and home behind in exchange for a life of party and drugs. Now, for his father's funeral, he returns as a changed man with a secret.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Original Character(s), Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Happy Little Accident [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808335
Comments: 252
Kudos: 945





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally meant to be a one-shot. It didn't go as planned.

The house looked daunting from the other side of the street. After years away from the mansion, it was easy to forget how huge it was and how impressively it towered over the street it was located on. The house was a conglomeration of half a dozen different buildings - cafés and long-forgotten shops, a laundromat, and an apartment building had all been swallowed by the house, just like the ghosts that were roaming this endless maze of corridors. As a child, he had seen what the house used to look like before it had grown into that monstrosity that was now staring at him like a living, breathing creature out of its cold dead eyes.

He remembered the house itself to feel warm and friendly. He remembered the smell of rich woods and furniture polish. He remembered how warm the living room always became when the sun would shine brightly through the large windows that would allow a glance into the yard. He remembered the sounds that were so typical for old and big houses like this one - the creaking of the woodwork, of the beams that were shifting and extending, floorboards creaking, and the steps of the grand staircase moaning under the weight of his siblings. 

It would have been a nice place to grow up at. It would have been a good school, a good home, a warm and comforting nest - especially with Mom being around to serve gentle smiles and reassuring hugs. However, looking back at his time at the house, he felt chills running through him and a nauseating wave of cold air hitting him square in the face. 

It was Reginald - the ghost in the house. Reginald, whose presence seemed to always dump a bucket of ice water over his head. Maybe, he thought sometimes, his life would have been different, had it not been for Reginald Hargreeves’ A+ parenting. 

As he stood there now and stared at his former home, he could almost hear his father’s voice in his ears again, reprimanding him for his weakness, belittling him for his lack of effort and progress. He had always been the disappointment of the family and he doubted that this would change soon. Why he had come in the first place was eluding him. Sure, it was his father’s funeral and his siblings - the surviving few - would be there but was this really reason enough for his return? A part of him was looking forward to see his brothers and sisters again but a bigger part of him was dreading the encounter. It was not that he wouldn't love his siblings. However, he feared that they would regard him with the same disappointment and dismissiveness their father had always regarded him with. 

Maybe seeing his siblings wasn’t a good enough reason to return to the house - but it was not the only reason he got.

Klaus Hargreeves rolled his head back and made a half-circle from left to right before he dropped his head forward and repeated the motion, then he cracked his knuckles, and shook out his fingers as if he was preparing for a fight. It was the 24th of March and inside that monstrosity of a house, his remaining family was preparing their old father’s funeral. As a child growing up, he had been certain that his siblings hated their father just as much as he did. 

He knew better now. It wasn't so easy. The world wasn’t just black and white, not just right or wrong. Between those extremes, there was an entire world of grey. No person was truly and completely evil and not a single soul completely and truly good. Even babies were born with sin and, in the end, every person was just a result of their circumstances growing up. The way a person grows up, largely, decides whether they grow up to become a saint or a devil. 

In that case, Klaus assumed, Reginald had done a pretty good job, all things considered. True, they were all emotionally crippled and developmentally delayed in terms of social skills but at least none of them had turned out evil, right? And that, putting it into the perspective that Sir Reginald Hargreeves had raised a bunch of superpowered children, was quite a feat. 

It would have been easy for every single one of them to turn evil. Luther with his super strength could have ripped Sir Reginald in half and declared war on the human race by the age of ten. Diego with his abnormal accuracy could have gone on to become a terrorist or the deadly weapon anyone with enough money would want to hire to do their bidding. Allison with her power of manipulation of reality could have made the entire world bow down to her before she had even learned to drive her bike without the training wheels. Five could have made a masterful thief or assassin at the very least. And Ben’s skill when it came to killing was rather undeniable. Even Klaus could have turned out quite differently. If he had never tried to run away from his powers and with the knowledge that he possessed now … He could have been at least a menace to society - more than he already was. 

And yet, despite the understanding that he had gained these past couple of years, in his nightmares, Sir Reginald Hargreeves was still the monster at the end of the book for him. His demons still wore his disapproving scowl, they were still saying the same things. Three more hours, Number Four. 

Leaving the house at age seventeen had been the best decision of his life. However, sometimes he wondered what his life might look like right now, if he had taken a different path, if he had denied the responsibility and allowed things to unfold without his interference. Maybe he would still be the same unhinged junkie that had once left this house. He looked down on himself and frowned. Well, maybe he was still a bit unhinged. At least he was wearing black, he assumed, and his family was used to his extravagant sense of fashion. 

Nathan had wanted him to put on a suit and Ben’s disapproving glower never left him since he had left the apartment but Klaus didn't want to raise eyebrows. His siblings would know something was weird about him if he would show up in a suit. He wanted to lure his siblings into a false sense of security before hitting them with the new and improved Klaus Hargreeves. The Klaus Hargreeves who was not living under a bridge, who had an actual home and a semi-stable job. 

"Tell me why I am doing this again" Klaus turned to the figure of his dead brother who was standing beside him on the sidewalk. Ben was staring at the house in much the same fashion as Klaus did. He seemed, perhaps, even more uneasy as Klaus himself felt. 

"Because Nathan told you and we do what Nathan says." 

"Yeah, but Nathan doesn't know what he’s talking about half the time."

"I’m gonna tell him when we go back home."

"I would like to see you try, Casper." 

Ben rolled his eyes at the comment and then nodded his head in the direction of the house, his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his leather jacket. Ben looked ridiculous with that leather jacket on top of his hoodie. Who needed two hoods anyway? Especially when being dead! 

"Ready?"

"Yeah" Klaus sighed. "Okay, let's do this." 

Walking across the street seemed to take much more effort than Klaus was willing to invest. The closer he got to the house, the colder he felt. He could almost hear the voices of the dead inside those halls calling out to him again as if they already felt him drawing near. As he reached the elegant double-winged front door with the umbrella symbol inlay on the frosted glass, he hesitated for a second with his hand on the handle. It was not just the fear of seeing his siblings being disappointed at him again or having his siblings disregard him in the same fashion they had as children that made him pause. 

He had turned his back on this place and on his siblings thirteen years ago and he had not once seen one of them since then. He had never tried to reach out and they had never tried reaching him. No, that wasn't true. Diego had tried reaching him. He knew that his brother had been looking for him. Diego probably thought that he was dead while Klaus had followed what his favorite brother had done those past years - like he had followed what all his surviving siblings had done those past few years if only to tell Nathan about it. 

"Klaus?" A voice suddenly called out from behind him. He had not even heard how anyone had approached the building. The voice sounded small and timid and he felt his stomach twist at the realization who it belonged to. Without his consent, he saw the words flashing in front of his eyes that his sister had written about him all those years ago. And yet, he turned around with the brightest, most charming, most Klaus-like grin he could muster.

Vanya looked exactly like she had always looked. Small and timid, pale and grey and washed out. Completely without color, her hair in a messy little whatever at the back of her head, clad in a dark oversized jacket and worn down jeans that did nothing for her figure. She looked part lumberjack, part repressed wallflower virgin. Even as a teenager, Klaus had wanted nothing more than to dress up his little sister in a gorgeous red dress and put some makeup on her. Even back then Klaus had thought that she was pretty and that she didn't even realize how pretty she truly was - or how special. 

"Vanya" He smiled and extended his arms to her - a silent invitation for a hug. He half expected her to remain awkwardly on the sidewalk, they had never been close, after all. Vanya surprised him though as she walked up the stairs and actually hugged him. 

"We thought you were dead," She said as a way of explanation for the hug and her voice sounded thin and raspy all of a sudden. Her arms around him were surprisingly strong and her embrace tight. "We didn't hear from you for thirteen years, Klaus!" Only then she let go of him again even though she kept her hands on his shoulders. "We thought you were dead! " She repeated and this time she put a lot more emphasis on it. 

Sure, he had joked once or twice about it with Ben and Nathan that his siblings probably thought that he was dead but to hear it out of Vanya’s mouth now and with such a hurt expression on her pale face, put it a little more into perspective how not funny that joke really was. His siblings had lost Five, then Ben, and then they had thought that they had lost Klaus as well. For the first time, there was nothing Klaus could come up with to say out of the blue - no joke he could make.

"Where have you been all these years?"

"I … uhm" He started and looked at Ben in search of help but Ben, helpfully as always, just grinned in response.

"Yeah, I’m not helping you with that one, Brother. You dug that hole for yourself now dug your way back out." 

"Hey … maybe we should go inside" Klaus proposed and nodded towards the door. "It's getting a little chilly." 

Vanya agreed with a hum but only because it was Vanya and she was not fond of arguments. Vanya, he remembered, had always seemed to want to apologize for existing as they had been growing up together. She had always been happy just to be included by her siblings whenever they would actually bother to include her - which hadn't often been the case. It had taken Klaus years and a little distance from his childhood to realize just how excluded she had been. Just like no one had taken Klaus seriously, no one had ever really listened to Vanya. However, while Vanya had sunk into invisibility a little more each year of her young life, Klaus had chosen to be as loud and obnoxious as possible so that he couldn't be overlooked. 

As they entered the house, everything felt just like it had last time he had been here. The heavy woods, the smell of furniture polish, dust particles dancing in the dim light that came through the stained glass window above the formal staircase, the loud ticking of the grandfather clock at the side of the reception hall. 

"Wow" He muttered more to himself but as he looked at Vanya, they shared a rare, understanding little smile. He was sure she understood what just overtook him.

"Wow indeed" She replied. "I haven't been here since…" Since she moved out. Since Ben died. She trailed off and they shared another little smile. There was no need to say anything else. Not right now. Suddenly, Klaus felt dwarfed by the sheer size of that house. And if he was already feeling this way, what must Vanya feel like?

"I’m … Uhm … I’m gonna have a look around" Klaus announced at patted her on the shoulder before he started crossing the entrance hall. His path led him upstairs before Vanya could say or do anything. He made his way into the picture gallery but instead of lingering, he left Mom’s lair and walked into the gallery above the living room and towards the collection their father had accumulated of their superhero stardom. He didn't even know why he went there. 

He allowed his eye to roam over the framed newspaper articles and magazine covers of them and remembered how high he had been during most of those photoshoots. At the thought, he gently wrapped his left hand around his right wrist, grounding himself at this moment in time and remembering the promise he had immortalized into his skin. All those bad decisions, those horrible things he had said and done were following him around like shadows in the night. 

"Unbelievable, right?" Klaus sighed as he pointed at the oil portraits of them all. 

"Yeah" Ben sighed. "I mean you weren't even here anymore when he commissioned the last one. Reggie probably gave the painter the last photo he had of you and told him to go wild. I mean look how buff you look. That's clearly not you."

"That's how he wanted me to be" Klaus shrugged. "A helpful addition to the team." 

"Well, you were destined to fail."

"Thank you, Ben, I always appreciate your words of encouragement." 

"Someone has to tell you the truth."

"I thought that was Nathan’s job."

"It is - and it's mine when he’s not around." Ben chuckled. Suddenly, there were stomping footsteps coming up the formal staircase and Klaus couldn't help but flinch at the sound. He knew who it was even before he heard the voice calling out: "At least I’m wearing black!" to someone down in the reception hall. 

"Diego" Ben grinned.

"I know."

"You’ll have to face him sooner or later."

"I’d like later."

"Don't be such a pussy!" Ben laughed. "He won’t bite your head off!" 

"We’re still talking about Diego, right?"

He had no chance to flee, however as he already realized that the heavy steps of his brother were approaching the gallery - and Klaus had nowhere to run to, nowhere to escape to. So, he just stood there, frozen solid as Diego stepped out into the gallery and stopped dead in his tracks just the same. His brother stared at him as if he was seeing a ghost - no pun intended. 

Diego Hargreeves looked different than he remembered him. Not so different that Klaus would not recognize him, of course. The man in front of him was very clearly his brother Diego. He was as tall as he had always promised to turn out - yet not taller than Klaus was, though. His brown eyes looked even darker today than he remembered and he had built a lot more muscle over the course of the past thirteen years. 

The outfit Number Two was wearing, however, seemed a bit ridiculous. There were holes in the knitted black sweater that he was wearing over an equally black turtleneck. It was evident that he had tried to mend the holes in the sweater himself - and very crudely so, sometimes not even with black thread which made the scars left on the sweater even more jarring. His black cargo pants too looked like they needed a good wash or, quite frankly, to be thrown in the trash. Even inside the house, he was wearing thick leather gloves and that leather harness Diego had gotten from their father at the age of sixteen, the knives still attached to it as if he was a man on a mission.

It was this moment that Klaus realized that he hardly knew anything about the man his brother now was. The serious face, the sour expression on his face, the knives, the black clothes, the heavy boots … he didn't just look like a man on a mission. He was a man on a mission. Constantly, as it appeared. Sure, he knew about Diego’s vigilante shenanigans, about his semi-successful boxing career, about his accommodations at the fighting line boxing gym - but he hadn't realized that it was this bad. The Diego he remembered hadn't needed missions in his life to find a purpose. The Diego he remembered had been perfectly content making bad music with his equally untalented brother in the basement or reading comics in the attic for hours. 

"Klaus" There was no warmth in his brother’s voice and that made Klaus shrivel on the inside like a wilting flower. Diego and he had always been close - unlike Ben and him who only really gotten close after Ben’s death. They had shared everything - even created a secret handshake as children. Diego was the safe haven Klaus had run to when everything had become too much and Klaus had been the one encouraging his brother when he had struggled with his dreaded childhood stutter again in his teenage years. It was as if he was looking at a stranger right now.

"Hey" He smiled his best Cheshire grin and waved his right hand at his brother, the one he had the word ‘Hello’ tattooed into his palm at the age of fifteen to spite his father. He remembered doing both hands in one drug-fueled night because he had known that if he wouldn't, he would probably not get the chance to complete the masterpiece. "Long time no see, huh? Looking good, big D! I see the vigilante lifestyle did wonders for your physique - or was it the boxing? Whatever it was, you look fine, girl." 

"Well, maybe he’ll bite your head off after all." Ben huffed. "You should maybe run or … jump over the banister. You might be able to land safely on one of the sofas and survive." 

However, Diego didn't bite his head off and neither was he throwing knives at him. Instead, he started moving again and Klaus instinctively opened his arms again to hug his brother. Diego, though, breezed past him without even looking at him and a second later, his brother had left the gallery and exited through another door.

"Wow," Ben murmured. "That was kinda unexpected."

※※※※※※※

Sir Reginald was staring down on them from his ridiculously large portrait with disdain. As a teen, Klaus had often thought that a psychologist would have a field day with Sir Reginald. Narcissus was an amateur compared to the old man. There seemed to be not a single room - except for the bedrooms - in this house that had not some form of picture or portrait of Reginald in it. Even in his own office, there were at least two pictures Klaus knew of. 

Sitting in the living room of the house like he had done so many times as a child and teenager, suddenly felt a little alien to him. Everything seemed a lot smaller than he remembered, less daunting even, now that he was actually inside the house. 

Highly aware of the way his siblings all seemed to stare at him - except Diego who was decidedly not looking at him - Klaus had a hard time actually relaxing in his seat. He could feel their scrutiny on him, waiting for him to mess up yet again like he used to in the past before he left the house. 

"You look good" Allison broke the ice tentatively as she sat down with a drink in her hand. Earlier, she had given him a funny look when she had offered him a drink and he had declined.

"Thank you, dearest." He grinned and blew her a kiss. "You look ravishing as well. Your last movie? Phenomenal! The way you played that angry lady in the wheelchair was absolutely Oscar-worthy if you’d ask me."

"Klaus" Luther interrupted his rambling, his voice only marginally deeper than last time Klaus had heard it, and still commanding attention. "Where have you been all these years? We thought you were dead. Even Dad thought you were dead." 

"Oh, you know me" Klaus huffed and shrugged his shoulders. "Here and there. I’m like a cat, always on the go, always somewhere else." 

"So you were traveling?" Allison, bless her, actually tried to get a decent answer out of him, while Vanya, who was sitting next to him, tried to make herself appear as small as humanly possible. She was probably glad that the attention was on him and not on her, after that book she had written about all of them.

"Yeah, kinda." 

"And it never occurred to you to send us a postcard or something?"

"Of course not, Luther." Diego suddenly chimed in, anger radiating from him in waves. "He’s Klaus, after all. Why would he think of writing a letter or a fucking postcard telling us that he’s still alive out there? He’s always been a selfish prick."

"Wow, rude!" Klaus replied with a chuckle. "I’m sorry. Sure. I should have sent postcards, like ‘Greetings from Crete - by the way, I’m not dead’ or ‘Hello from London, the weather is shit, and I am still kicking’. " 

"You went to Greece?" Vanya asked surprised.

"Yup. A few years ago. It was nice. Gorgeous men everywhere, you would like it there, Sis." He winked and Vanya blushed. "I was in France and Germany, in Italy and England too."

"With what money, though? Dad said you never even touched your allowance - hence why he thought you were dead!" Of course, Luther wouldn't just let it go like this. 

"I have my ways, brother dearest. So. Dad’s funeral. What is the plan here? I’m not one to rush things but I kinda have other shit to do, right?"

"You have your ways?" Diego echoed and his smile turned outright mean as he looked at Klaus now. He was already aiming for the throat. It was nice to see that his favorite brother still had no chill even all those years later. People said that hotheads like Diego mellowed out with age - that didn't seem to hold true for his brother, though. "You mean sugar daddies? Or what? Did you steal or sell drugs?" 

"It's refreshing to see that even all those years later you have still such a low opinion of me, Baby." Klaus huffed. "I have you know that I actually do have a job."

It was like a bomb had exploded in the room. His siblings grew silent, staring at him as if he had just told them that he was pregnant with quadruplets. Then again, they would have probably believed that over his claim to have an actual job. He couldn't even find it in himself to be angry because of that. He couldn't fault them. After all, he had never done anything to prove their thoughts of him wrong, right?

"A job?" Luther asked - suspicion already visibly on his face. "What kind of job?"

"A job, Luther. Work. Not everyone can sit on the moon for four years and twiddle their thumbs."

"So, what do you do?" Vanya approached him with a shy smile.

"Doesn't matter. But, if it helps, it's legal." 

"Never thought I’d see the day" Allison snorted. "Weren't you the one who said ‘Allison, look at these hands! Do these hands look like the hands of someone who is meant to do any kind of actual work?’"

"And I stand by that statement" Klaus laughed holding out his hands. "See? Not one callus. Those are the hands of an artist, Darling."

"So you are an artist now." Diego deadpanned.

"Not what I said but … well, I guess you could call my work art, yes."

"You are not a stripper, right?" Luther almost choked on his own spit at Diego’s question. He looked completely scandalized by the idea.

"Not anymore, no. I was good though. But do you really think a stripper makes enough money to travel the world?" 

"Why Europe, though?" Vanya then asked. She seemed at least willing to try to steer the conversation back to a less raunchy terrain. 

"I was doing a bit of soul searching. Why else would I go to Europe?" 

"So?" Diego groaned. "Did you find it? Your soul?" 

"You could say that, yes." Klaus grinned.

"Enough of that" Luther frowned. "We should be talking about Dad’s death and not about Klaus’ delusions."

He wanted to protest but he knew better than to try. It was just like old times. His siblings would ask him questions, he would answer truthfully and they still wouldn't believe him. Well, maybe Diego believed him but Diego was pissed right now. "What about his death?" Klaus sighed instead. "He died from a heart attack, did he not?"

"Yes." Diego said.

"That’s what the coroner said." Luther interrupted immediately. 

As the bickering between his siblings started, Klaus exchanged a glance with Ben and leaned back comfortably in his seat - thankful that he was no longer the center of attention. It was nice to see that nothing had changed in this family. In the eyes of his siblings, he was still the useless junkie just because he wouldn't play circus tricks for them and Diego and Luther still wanted to kill each other. Who would have thought that this family reunion would be so much fun?

Everything turned on its head, however, the moment outside in the yard a black hole opened and spat out their missing brother Five back into existence. Everything after that was seemingly part of a comedy in which it was key that the audience had no idea that they were actually part of it. Klaus wasn’t surprised as Diego started a fight with Luther during the funeral and not even by the outcome of that fight - which was poor Ben getting punched in the dick and losing his head. 

Ben, however, flinched at the sight and muttered: "As if I haven't been through enough. Now they break my ugly-ass statue? Rude." 

"We don't have time for this" Five spat at the sight of their fighting brothers and marched back inside the house just in time for Diego pulling one of his knives out of the holster and flinging it at Luther. The knife slit through Luther’s left sleeve and his arm like it was butter and as the giant quickly made his way back inside, his brother Diego actually had the decency to look at least a little bit sheepish while Vanya reprimanded him. 

Klaus stayed back for a moment after everyone had walked back inside. He took another drag from his cigarette and slowly walked over to the pile of ash on the ground - the remnants of his father - and then crouched down beside it. 

"I bet you are loving this" He muttered. "The team at it's best - it's just like old times." 

Even underneath Ben’s disapproving gaze, he stubbed his cigarette into the pile of ash and got up to walk back inside. "Best funeral ever!" 

"I still don't get why you are not conjuring dad" Ben sighed as he followed Klaus back inside. "Luther asked you to."

"And since when am I doing what someone else - especially Luther - is telling me? No, Benjamin, I am my own man. I don't do anything just because someone tells me to."

"I’m telling Nathan."

"Don't you dare." Klaus huffed. "Besides … I am not interested in seeing the old man again - yet. And what good would it do anyway? He would probably just frown at us and tell us how disappointed he is in all of us and our lack of progress. It's not getting us anywhere."

"But what if Luther is right and he was killed?"

"First of all, remember rule number one: Luther is never right. Second of all, why would anyone want to kill Reggie? The people thought he was some kind of hero, right? They worshipped the man. I mean, we have seen it on TV when he died, right? So many people held vigils for him!"

"That doesn't mean he didn't have any enemies."

"Don't I know that?" Klaus laughed. "I mean, come on, Benny, those other assholes can get in line. Dad’s worst enemies were living for almost two decades under the same roof as he. If none of us killed Reggie, no one did. We would have had the biggest motives after everything he did to us. So, if you are not trying to insinuate that it was Diego or Vanya or that Allison secretly returned from Hollywood to poison Daddy, then tell me who did it."

"Maybe Mom? Or Pogo?"

"You are hearing what comes out of your mouth, yes?"

Ben huffed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, maybe you are right. But now go call Nathan. You promised to tell him what happened today. He’s probably getting antsy - and you know how he gets when he gets antsy."

Klaus just rolled his eyes at that. Without even noticing it, Ben had more or less directed him to the nearest phone that was attached to the wall in one of the corridors. Sly little bastard. "Okay, fine. We don't wanna upset the boss, I guess."

With a sigh, he walked over to the phone on the wall and picked up the receiver. Before he punched in the number, however, he quickly looked around to make sure that no one was there to listen in on his conversation - except Ben, of course. He never seemed able to escape Ben, right? Only when he was sure that he was alone, he dialed the number that he would be able to recite in his sleep by now and listened intently to the dial tone. The phone rang three times before it was picked up. Just as expected, a female voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Anne" Klaus replied quickly. "It's me, Klaus. How are you holding up?"

"Oh, it's fine" She sounded exhausted.

"It sure is" He huffed and startled a giggle out of the woman on the other side. 

"You wanna talk to the boss?"

"Yeah" Klaus sighed and could hear Anne calling Nathan over right after. She didn't even try to muffle her yell. Shortly after, he heard footsteps approach the phone on the other side and couldn't help but grin as the voice of the boss sounded through the phone.

"About time, I hear from you!" The young man huffed impatiently. "How was it? Was I right? I was right, right?"

"Of course, you were right." Klaus rolled his eyes and Ben chuckled. "Everything happened exactly like you said it would. So what now? What are we-"

Before he could finish his sentence, however, two leather-clad fingers suddenly pushed down on the cradle and ended the call. As he turned his head sharply, he came face to face with his brother Diego, staring at him as if he was seeing him for the first time today.

**-End of Chapter 1-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! It makes my day. Also: stay safe and healthy!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for Klaus' "come to Jesus" moment

"I was talking to someone!" Klaus growled. "Where are your manners, Dee?"

"Who were you talking to?" His brother’s eyes were dark and full of unspoken suspicion as he regarded Klaus. Those were not the eyes of one brother looking at the other, not the eyes of a friend looking at a friend. Diego was looking at him as if he had a criminal in front of him during one of his nightly vigilante tours.

"As much as I enjoy talking to my favorite living brother, I believe that is none of your business, Darling. I mean, do you see me running around, creeping up behind you when you are on the phone and asking you about it? What if I was talking to my baby daddy - or some booty call?"

"Everything happened exactly like you said it would," Diego repeated what he had said to Nathan. "Sounds a little suspicious considering what happened here today, don't you think?" 

"Who says I was talking about anything that happened here?" He made it a point to lean against the wall, cross his arms, and look as smug as possible. He had always known how to rile Diego up without causing serious animosities between them. 

"Klaus, don't lie to me! You are a terrible liar!"

"I have to inform you that I am a fantastic liar. But that's beside the point because I am not lying." 

It was pretty obvious that Diego didn't believe him. He could tell by the way he was furrowing his brows and narrowing his chin ever so slightly. Damn, his brother had turned out to be a very handsome man now that he had lost all his puppy fat. Only now as he had time to take in Diego’s appearance he noticed the duffle bag that was flung over his shoulder and saw his opportunity to change the topic and divert Diego’s attention away from him.

"Oh, are we leaving?"

"No, I’m leaving. Me. Alone."

"Oh, golly, let me just get my things then." 

※※※※※※※

"We should go back home." Ben sighed from the seat beside him. "Why are we here anyway? All he does is brood."

"Chicken brood. Batman broods." Klaus huffed. "Diego just … I don't even know what's it called what he does. And we are here because Diego heard me say something that he doesn't understand and we know how he gets then, right? We want to make sure he’s no longer suspicious when we leave. Because what is the last thing we want? Right. Batman on our heels. Well, I suppose … maybe he is brooding."

"You should tell the others, though." Ben frowned. Somehow Klaus had managed to bully his way into the backseat of Diego’s rotten old car with Ben beside him and made Diego promise him to grab a bite to eat together. Diego’s car was remarkable clean but he could still see an old sweatshirt lying on the ground and a few pieces of crumpled up paper.

"Why? Listen, just because Nate was right about Five it doesn't mean that he’s right about the impending end of the world either." 

"But what if he is?" Ben groaned. "Has he ever been wrong before?"

"Really? We are talking about the same person, though, right? The same guy who tried eating 30 pancakes at once."

"You were cheering him on!"

"Of course, I was! I have no impulse control!"

"And neither does he!" 

"Well, apparently it runs in the family - I mean look at Diego with all his bondage gear." 

"Yeah, or Five with his anger issues."

"Or Allison always using her powers to get whatever she wants at the time."

The police radio that Diego had placed on the hood of his old green car suddenly cracked before a voice came through informing about a shooting at Griddy’s donuts. He exchanged an alarmed look with Ben just as Diego came back to the car, grabbed the radio and opened the driver’s seat door.

"Diego, thank you for joining us." He drawled as his brother climbed back into the driver's seat. "We decided on - drum roll - waffles!" 

"I’m dropping you off at the bus stop." Diego informed him quickly. "I need to get back to work."

"What? Breaking bones and cracking skulls?" He sighed although a part of him was relieved about this new development because it would mean that Diego would be off his back now. His brother’s attention span had never been very long.

"Saving lives, Baby," Diego replied with the hint of a smirk on his face as he looked at him over his shoulder. Not a moment later, he watched how Diego pulled out his mask and put it on his face. There was a joke somewhere in the back of his throat about that but he swallowed it down instead. 

"Well, I guess it's frozen waffles again." Klaus turned to look at his dead brother but Ben was not very helpful as he pulled up his hood and ignored him. A part of him was disappointed as Diego drove away from the docks. Even though his brother was clearly still pissed at him, he had hoped that they would be able to rekindle their relationship and spend some time together tonight. He had missed the vigilante more than he was willing to admit right now. Diego had always been a rock for him, the one person he could tell anything to without being judged too harshly. There was a divide between them now and he hated it. And, at the same time, he knew that this divide was important.

※※※※※※※

Looking in the rearview mirror, he was still amazed to see his brother Klaus sitting there and cracking jokes like the past thirteen years had not happened at all - as if he had not just vanished into thin air and left Diego to consider the most horrible scenarios for his brother’s whereabouts. He had spent days and even years imagining what had happened to Klaus, even tried finding him, calling in favors with former friends from the police academy to get a lead on his missing brother. And now he knew that while he had been busy worrying himself silly, his brother had been off to Europe, frolicking and sleeping around with half of Europe, probably shooting up every substance he could get his fingers on.

He should be glad that Klaus was alive and seemingly still the same old crazy Klaus but he was just pissed. Pissed that his brother had allowed his suffering for such a long time, pissed that his brother had not deemed it important to talk to him at any point, pissed that his brother was now acting as if nothing had happened. He wondered if Klaus had even realized what he did to him and the rest of their family with this behavior. Furthermore, he wondered that, if Klaus realized what his behavior had done to the family, if he had just not cared about them enough.

The streets were far from being empty and it was not nearly late enough to warrant empty streets and sidewalks. People were still walking around in groups, laughing and chatting, or walking home from work or from yet another unsuccessful date. The air was pleasantly warm and promised of a nicer spring than last year when the streets had been flooded by monsoon-like rainstorms. 

He pulled over at the nearest bus stop just as he had told his brother. A part of him didn't want to drop Klaus off and risk never seeing his brother again. Who was to say that Klaus would return to them now after playing dead for thirteen years? What reason would Klaus actually have to keep in touch? Fuck, why did he even show up at the funeral? To gloat? And what had he meant when he talked to that mysterious person on the phone? Everything happened exactly like you said it would - what was the meaning of that? The words wouldn't leave him.

"Hey" He called out to his brother after Klaus had gotten out of his car. Quickly, Diego turned down the window of the driver’s side. "Klaus … Uhm … Don't drop off the radar again, alright? We were all worried sick for you and … just … at least call every once in a while, okay?" 

"Don't worry." Klaus grinned. "You’ve not seen the last of me." 

He didn't know if he should be glad to hear that or not just by the way of how cryptic Klaus was behaving. The Klaus he had met today at the house was not the same young man he had last seen thirteen years ago. He was still too pretty for his own good, had still the same quick wit and big mouth he always had, still his extravagant sense of fashion but he seemed changed nonetheless. Changed in a way Diego could not pinpoint right now. For all it mattered, Diego didn't know if he liked the new version of his brother.

"Take care." He said and Klaus waved him goodbye before scurrying off to the bus stop just as a bus approached. Diego remained in his car for another moment, watching how his brother got onto the bus. He should head off to Griddy’s to arrive before Eudora would so that he could actually ask some questions and yet … he couldn't forget how odd Klaus had behaved today. Maybe he should follow him and see where he went - at the very least he would know where to find him then. That was a reasonable argument to follow someone, right?

He hesitated for another few seconds before he pulled the mask off of his face and stepped on the gas again to follow the bus at last. He did his best to be as inconspicuous as possible just in case Klaus would look out the window and recognize Diego in his car. He didn't want to freak him out and possibly make Klaus drop off of the face of the earth again. 

Like this, Diego followed his brother to another bus stop a few blocks further away from the harbor where Klaus got off of the bus only to hop onto a different line after a few minutes of waiting. He was almost afraid that his brother might have noticed something and was now trying to get Diego off his tail. In that case, Diego would only need to be even more adamant about it. If Klaus was hiding something, he needed to know because if Klaus Hargreeves was hiding something - the same Klaus Hargreeves who had run around naked inside the house far too many times - it had to be something dangerous.

He followed Klaus and the bus for another ten minutes before his brother yet again hopped off. This time, however, he started walking down the street, following the bus line, and then walking around a corner into another street. They were in Bricktown now where narrow crooked houses stood side by side. He could see a carpenter’s shop on the other side of the street as he slowly followed his brother. The street his brother had vanished into was a one-way street and Diego couldn't enter from this side, so he parked at the side of the road and got out. 

Just as Diego walked into the street, he could see his brother walk up to the third apartment building in a row of narrow old townhouses, hop up the three steps that were separating the front door from the sidewalk, and walk into the building. He didn't press any of the doorbells outside. No, Klaus actually had a key for the front door. Maybe he was not lying then. Maybe he did have a real job and a real home, actually. Or he was living with some guy who gave him money for drugs in exchange for sex. He knew that he was maybe a bit harsh and unfair but after everything he had gone through with Klaus back in the day, everything he had seen… 

Diego shook his head just to get those depressing thoughts out of his head and follow his brother’s path. He walked up to the house his brother had vanished in, hurried up the stairs, and had a good look at the nametags above the doorbells. The name ‘Hargreeves’ spat him right in the face. So, Klaus was indeed living here. It was his apartment. Not that of some sugar daddy. He didn't want to press the doorbell and announce his presence just yet, though. Whatever Klaus was hiding from him, Diego needed to catch him red-handed. So, quickly he pulled out his lockpicks and made quick work of the old lock in the door. After the overcame that first hurdle, Diego crept into the hallway of the apartment building like a shadow. 

The house was old, the black and white checkered floor tiles in the hall damaged here and there, the formerly white wallpaper yellowed and peeling off in the far corner near the cellar door. A row of mailboxes was sitting right next to the entrance and, again, he found the name Hargreeves on one of them. Outside were no apartment numbers on the doorbells and so he had to actually search for the right door. Good thing the house was not that big. 

He found Klaus’ apartment on the third floor right underneath the roof at the far end of the hall. There was a decorative little table underneath the hallway window that was leading into a backyard of sorts. He was sure that the owner of the building had put the table there, just like they had the ugly little pink vase with the fake flowers. Diego imagined a nice old lady trying to make her building look inviting and comfortable with what little money she had to spare and without doing actual renovations that would cost loads of money. 

Klaus’ apartment door was completely unremarkable. The number 6 in brass hung crooked on his door right above the peephole and the green paint was peeling on the outside. There was an old welcome mat right in front of the door that made Diego furrowed his brows. He really couldn't imagine his brother walking into a furniture store and buying a welcome mat - let alone actually properly furnishing an apartment and maybe even decorating it. 

He could hear sounds from inside, quiet, and muffled. It sounded like a TV running and then he heard Klaus’ voice calling for someone but he couldn't understand the name. Finally, Diego decided to make himself known to his brother. He rapped his knuckles sharply against the door and stepped just out of sight of the peephole - just in case.

"Coming!" Klaus shouted from inside the apartment in a sing-song voice. Shortly after, he heard his brother approach the door and then the sound of the chain and the lock being undone. "Anne, have you forgotten-"

Whatever Klaus wanted to say, it died on his tongue when he opened his door and saw Diego standing in the dim light of the hallway. For a second, he was certain his brother would slam the door in his face. He had paled considerably in a mere matter of seconds - which was quite the achievement considering how pale he was anyway - and seemed now ready to make a run for the nearest escape.

"What are you doing here?" Klaus gasped and shot a nervous glance over his shoulder. Now he was certain that there was something fishy going on in this apartment. So fishy, in fact, that Diego could almost smell an entire fish market on a hot summer’s day taking place behind Klaus. 

"Who’s this?" Another voice called out from inside the apartment and before either one of the brothers could say or do anything, Diego could hear another set of footsteps approach. His brother suddenly seemed very nervous but didn't get a chance to do anything to prevent his impending doom as the person came into sight behind Klaus. Diego almost took a double-take at the sight before him. "I told you he would show up but you never listen, Dad!" 

The boy behind Klaus could be no older than eleven or maybe twelve years old. His curly brown hair was the spitting image of Klaus’ own messy mop of curls when he would let them grow out too long. Sparkling green eyes were looking at Diego with blatant, devilish glee at the sight before him and a fine patch of freckles was dusting the bridge of the boy’s nose. For a second, Diego felt like he had gone back in time and that, behind Klaus, stood a much younger version of his brother but there were enough differences to tell him that the boy was not in fact a younger clone of Number Four. 

"Dad?" Diego echoed with barely any sound leaving his mouth while he felt like his voice had jumped up a few octaves at the same time. Had this boy really just called Klaus ‘dad’? Why would anyone call Klaus ‘dad’? "Why did he call you dad?"

"So … Uhm … funny story-"

"Klaus!"

"You see, when a man and a woman get very horny-"

"Klaus!"

"Well … What can I say?"

"He’s … yours?"

"I mean I’m no expert of course, but I would be inclined to say that I am 90% sure."

"Dad, come on, man" The little boy rolled his eyes dramatically - and to Diego’s horror, in much the same way Klaus would do. "Don't be a dick! Let Uncle Diego in!"

Uncle Diego. It took a moment to fully hit him in the face. Uncle Diego. Sure, Allison had a little girl and he was Claire’s ‘Uncle Diego’ too but … this was different. He was Uncle Diego. That kid just called him Uncle Diego. He felt as if the ground was about to break away or as if he was having an actual heart-attack - until Klaus put a comforting hand on his arm. 

"Well, then … come in then, I suppose, Uncle Diego." Klaus muttered quietly as he more or less dragged Diego into his lair.

Two minutes later, Diego Hargreeves was sitting in Klaus’ living room. His brother Klaus had an actual living room. Sure, it was a little chaotic and weird but it was a living room. There was a bookshelf on the wall that was made out of old skateboards and clearly self-made by someone, holding a variety of all kinds of different books - many of them children’s books. The leather sofa and a comfortable looking wicker chair were mismatched just like the rug and the coffee table. A TV was mounted to the wall. 

A round, wooden dining table was pushed against the far window at the side of the room. He only had three chairs and every single one of them had a different color. The walls were plastered with pictures and canvases. Of course, Diego recognized his brother’s art immediately, even though it seemed cleaner now, the technique more mature than what Diego was used to seeing all over the bedroom walls of Klaus’ room at the academy. A red backpack stood near the door, a pair of shoes neatly placed next to it. The small kitchenette was in a narrow nook of the main room of the apartment and although it looked just as mismatched as everything else, it was actually quite tidy. He could see two other doors leading out of the main room, probably to a bathroom and a bedroom. 

As Diego took it all in, he felt the eyes of the boy on him. The little guy sat on the wicker chair and grinned like a Cheshire cat. Yeah, definitely Klaus’ son. 

"I … Uhm … I have to … It's … I don't get it." Diego finally turned to Klaus as he sat down next to Diego on the sofa. 

"It's a long story" Klaus sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, thus making even more of a mess with his eyeliner than usual. Now that Klaus was no longer wearing his coat he could see a tattoo on his right wrist that he had not noticed before during the day. It was a combination of numbers. A date. 01/07/2008. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was the birthday of Klaus’ son. January 7th, 2008. The kid was 11 years old. His brother had an eleven-year-old child. And Diego had not known anything about it. 

"Oh my God!" The boy sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Come on, Dad! Don't be such a wanker! You are making such a big show out of it. Just tell Uncle Dee!" 

He definitely had Klaus’ mouth. 

"Okay so" Klaus just wanted to start but then turned to his son again. "Nate, go to your room, okay? Anne told me you have extra homework because you threw that paper airplane at your teacher today."

Nate rolled his eyes and said without getting up: "I hit him in the eye!" The words were clearly directed at Diego and he felt a weird sense of pride wash through him at that. "Dad, I know the story. Come on."

"Yeah, you do but this is not something for the ears of a child, child."

"You know what? You’re boring." Nate grumbled but got up anyway to slowly stagger into his room. 

"Close the door, Nate!"

With another groan, the door shut with a reassuring thud. 

"So … Nate." Diego turned to Klaus once more.

"Nathan" Klaus sighed before he chuckled and sunk back into the cushions of the sofa. Suddenly, his brother looked older. For the first time today, Diego felt like he was really seeing Klaus. Before he hadn’t paid much attention to his antics throughout the day. It was just Klaus being Klaus, right? His brother had always had this boyish look about him and he still did but right now Diego could see a maturity in Klaus’ green eyes that he had never expected to see on him. "He’s a hand full."

"So … what's the story?"

"I … Uhm … Okay." Klaus didn't seem comfortable to tell the story at all but as Diego squeezed his shoulder in reassurance, he let out a small sigh. As children, they had told each other everything. Why should it be different now? He couldn't deny, though, that he felt a bit hurt that Klaus had never told him about Nathan - and that he would have proceeded to keep him a secret if Diego had not followed him. 

"So, when I left the academy … I was planning on running away to god knows where, right? I stole as much as I could from the old man and pawned it all off. I wanted … I wanted to get away from everything - as far away as possible. I wanted a new life, to be somewhere where no one would recognize me as one of the Umbrella kids. I was the useless one anyway, right? I was only good for photoshoots because of my cute face and my nice legs." He flicked Klaus’ ear at that. "So … I hung around for a couple more months, took drugs, slept on the streets, and tried to make enough money for a one-way ticket to London."

"London?"

"Yeah, I mean … why not? London, at the time, seemed as good a destination as every other. Anyway, a few months later, I finally managed to get there. And that's when I realized that only because I am far away from dad doesn't mean I get handed a new life on a silver platter. Suddenly, I was in London with hardly any money, no friends, no family, and no one who would help me. It was terrifying. But you know me. I’m always finding my way around. So … I did what I did here. Made connections, found drug dealers, flirted with guys for drinks and heroin, worked as a stripper here and there for horny women … fucked guys for money … same old, same old." 

Only now Diego realized what it was that had struck him earlier about Klaus that was different. His brother wasn’t high - and he had not taken the offered alcohol at the house either. Right now he was looking a bit uncomfortable retelling his story and the things he had done. He had never looked uncomfortable telling Diego about the shit he would do out of the house when they were younger and Klaus high as a kite most of the time.

"I did this for a while, lived my life as I did here - in other words, I wasted it. Then there was this girl, Mary. We hooked up once. Once, Diego! You know me, right? I don't discriminate when it comes to sex, though I definitely prefer guys - and that encounter only cemented this for me! However, Mary was cute and we got along fine. We met at the disco, got high together and - in all honesty, I hardly remember that night. We were both high out of our minds. So, anyway, I was never the type for stable relationships and quickly lost track of the people I slept with anyway. Three months after our hookup, I met Mary again and - surprise, she’s pregnant." The jazz-hands he made were lacking their usual dramatic flair completely. 

"Jesus"

"My sentiments exactly." Klaus laughed. "And I was like: Wow congrats, who’s the lucky guy? And she looked me dead in the eyes and said: ‘It's yours.’"

"You telling me you slept with a random girl without protection?" He wanted to slap Klaus across the face for being so stupid and immature and irresponsible. Diego was trying his damndest not to imagine how many times Klaus might have slept with random strangers without protection just because he was high or drunk. 

"Apparently, I did." Klaus shrugged. "Look, I’m not proud of this, right? I was … Fuck, Diego" And now he could see actual tears in his brother’s eyes. "If I was bad as a teenager … I was … I was completely out of control then."

Now as a proper adult and with the responsibility of having a child to care for, it seemed to hit Klaus like a sledgehammer how risky he had behaved back in the day and how often he could have gotten himself sick and ruined his life forever. Becoming a parent truly put things into perspective for anyone - and Klaus was no exception as it now seemed.

"I spiraled out of control when I went to London. And I mean, really out of control. I hardly remember the time, actually. Days became weeks without me realizing it. I was constantly high and if I wasn’t, I was doing something to get money to get high. I did … all kinds of really fucked-up shit. It was really bad, Diego. Really, really bad. I overdosed at least five times I can remember before the Mary thing. Anyway, I said to her: ‘Well, how do you know?’ I was certain that she had found out who I was and wanted the money, right? 

She said that she always used protection and that I was the only one she didn't use it with. Of course, I didn't buy that. She couldn't get an abortion at that point - even though she wanted to. She was so scared about all of this and I felt bad for her. So, I said: ‘No, you have that baby and I will make sure that it gets a good start even if it's not mine’. I mean … That would have been one way of pissing of Reggie, right? So, Mary got the baby two months early. It just happened while she was at some party. We had contact on again off again and by that point, I had almost forgotten about her and the kid. Then the call came. I had gotten a phone in case something happened and when the call came I was at some rave snorting cocaine off of a dirty table. Mary had given the doctors my number and told them I’m the baby daddy. When I arrived, Nathie was already there but Mary … She was in a really bad condition. She had taken oxy - way too much that day and the bleeding just wouldn't stop."

"Did she die?" He tried not to think about that nightmare Klaus was conjuring up for him right now. He tried not to think about how much Nathan actually knew about all of this. To know that both your parents were drug addicts, to know that your mother had been behaving so irresponsibly while pregnant with you … It would be a nightmare for any child. It seemed to be a miracle that Nathan was alive at all and seemingly completely healthy despite what his mother had done during the pregnancy. 

"Yeah" Klaus sighed. "Half an hour later she was dead. She didn't have any family - just the baby. And I still had no idea if he was mine. Those people just handed him to me even though I was clearly completely out of my mind and I didn't know what to do. In the end, I asked to perform a test - just to be sure, even though I had promised Mary to take care of the kid. It came out positive and I still didn't know what to do or even feel."

"And they just … gave you the boy? They gave him to a junkie?"

"For a little bit, yes. To welcome him - so to say. But only until the social workers would arrive." Klaus huffed and shook his head about the lunacy of all this. "I wanted to call Dad, you know? I wanted to call and tell him to please come to get me. I wanted to call you or Luther or anyone to come and take me home. Then the cps people came and took Nathie. Because, of course, they wouldn't let a junkie wander off with a baby. There was this really nice lady, though. Helen. By then I was bawling my eyes out. I didn't want him to be adopted and never know who his parents were. We know what that's like. I told her that. So, I made a deal with her."

"What deal?"

"I was getting clean and if I make it a year and do everything the court orders me to do, I’m gonna get Nathan back. She even allowed me to visit him on the weekends."

"So you did."

"So I did." Klaus chuckled and dragged his thumb over the tattoo. "I made the promise and I stuck to it to this day."

"I’m fucking proud of you, brother" Diego sighed and put his arm around Klaus’ narrow shoulders. Klaus all but melted against him like he used to when they were children and everything seemed a lot easier. There had been times when he had been angry that Klaus had just vanished. Times, when he would have needed his brother to confide in - about the police academy, about Eudora, about the things he would see on the streets - and Klaus hadn’t been there for him. Right now, however, he only regretted that he hadn't been there for Klaus when his brother had needed him the most. 

"Not gonna lie, it wasn’t easy. And … dropping everything and just continuing as I had before was tempting. And even after that year … I had a hard time getting started over there."

"You could have taken your allowance."

"Sure … but I didn't want to take dad’s money. I was a dad now myself, after all. I thought I needed to provide for my son all on my own, so that the little guy can be proud of me." 

"I bet he already is proud of you, little Bro." Klaus bit out a little sob and Diego only pulled him closer. "So then you traveled the world with your son?"

"Yeah" Klaus laughed. "I wanted to show him as much of the world as possible, I guess."

"But … how did you do it?"

"I jobbed a lot" Klaus laughed. "Like a lot. I was almost constantly working some odd jobs. That's how I learned carpentry" He pointed at the bookshelf. "Though I am pretty bad at it. It was in Paris, though, when I found a different venue."

"Don't tell me sex work." Diego deadpanned with little humor in his voice.

"Of course, not!" He almost sounded scandalized. "Not that I haven't done that before but … with a kid … I didn't want to risk anything. I … Uhm … So, without the drugs … the ghosts returned. And since there was no escape this time … I actually worked on my powers."

"You’re kidding, right?"

"Nope." He laughed. "I started offering my services after I got a grip on my powers. I actually got good money for it too." 

So, all it had taken for his brother to finally come to terms with his powers and actually work on them had been getting clean and handed a baby. If only Reginald would have known that!

"Wow, you guys are really a bunch of pansies, right?" The brothers let go of each other as if burnt to stare at the bedroom door where Nate was looking out at them. "Uncle Benny was right. He said you would start hugging and crying like little girls in less than five minutes of being left alone."

Uncle Benny?

"So, did you tell Uncle Diego about the apocalypse or what?"

**-End of Chapter 2-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dundunDUUUUUUUN  
> Tell me what you think <3


	3. Chapter 3

Of course, his brother would stare at him with big eyes. It had to have been expected, yet it was still funny to see. One does not always see Diego Hargreeves speechless. The apocalypse. Well, that was quite the conversation starter, wasn’t it? His little munchkin man had known how to make an entrance right from the start. If anyone would ever call Klaus a drama queen again, he would direct them to Nathan, who had clearly inherited his sense for dramatics and perfected it already. Maybe he was a bad influence on his son.

Without waiting for an invitation to join the conversation again, Nathan scurried back into the living room and flopped down on one of the many pillows strewn across the floor. Nathan might call him a hippie for having so many pillows around but he still sure loved to sit on them. Ben was trailing after the little guy. He could tell by the look on his dead brother’s face alone that operation homework had failed. 

"Apocalypse?" Diego finally echoed after a few seconds of silence before he pointed at his nephew. "What's he talking about, Bro?"

"So you didn't tell him?" Nathan sounded just as scandalized as he did this one time when Klaus told him that they couldn't just eat pizza for breakfast.

"And when did you suppose I would have had time to tell him, Boss?"

"I gave you like ten minutes! What did you do with that time? Did you just sit around and cry like little girls about the past? Come on, Dad! Chop-chop! We don't have all week, right?" 

"Clearly" Klaus sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. What a day that was. He felt completely exhausted by everything that happened. After all, his brother, who had vanished seventeen years ago, had returned through a black hole in the sky! And now the end of the world was right around the corner.

"Klaus. What's going on?"

"Okay … Remember when we were like ten and wondered if children of ours would get powers too?" Nathan rolled his eyes about the way he chose to start this conversation. "Well, I can answer that question with a definite “yes” now. I mean I don't know about Claire, of course, but she’s practically a baby still, right? My little devil, however, clearly got something to show." 

"Wow," It was a lot to take in for Diego in such a short amount of time and Klaus knew that it would get even worse from here on out. He pitied his brother. Diego was a guy who liked to think in simpler ways than the apocalypse. See a bad guy? Punch him in the face. He knew, however, that his brother wasn’t stupid either and that talking to Diego about all this crap first was probably his best shot anyway. As children, they had told each other everything. As children, Diego had always been the one to defend him from their siblings and support him no matter what. 

Still, Klaus had never liked being the harbinger of bad news. Then again, he was also the one walking in at breakfast with a pink feather boa declaring that he was gay. Well, back in the day there hadn't been as much hoopla about pronouns and sexual orientations and all that jazz as there was today and he had really liked boys. He knew a little more about himself now but … he still really liked boys. 

"Yeah" Klaus sighed. "You know I started to get suspicious about him when he told me that a car was about to splash me with water from a puddle and then it happened like ten seconds later."

"Visions?" Diego asked.

"Yeah … Though the experts call it precognition, I guess." Klaus chuckled. Nathan had been four years old when he first started to show signs of his powers and Klaus remembered freaking out about it a bit more than would have been necessary. "He can also tell you the history of something just by touching it and he’s a bit like a human lie detector sometimes." 

"Jesus!"

"No, Nathan." The little guy grinned.

"But his precognition usually only hits when something major is going to happen."

"Yeah - not like it's helping me much at school" Nathan frowned. It was indeed a bummer. Klaus would have loved a power that would have helped him through school. Then again, Reggie would have probably found a way to hinder Klaus from using it.

"So … what was that about the apocalypse again?"

"Okay" Klaus braced himself for what he was about to say because it would be a tough pill to swallow. It would be easier though to just get it over with. Like a band-aid. "I didn't really want to go to the house today but Nathan woke up last week telling me the world was going to end on April 1st. I thought he was taking the piss."

"Naturally."

"And then he said that today, on March 24th, Five would return to the house during the funeral of our dear old dad."

"So, you knew Dad would die?" Diego turned to Nathan and the boy shrugged. "Do you also know what happened?"

"No" Nathan replied and then pulled a grimace. "I mean I could probably tell I could go to the house but Dad’s not letting me."

"Anyway!" Klaus exclaimed. He knew already that he really didn't want to have this discussion again and certainly not with his brother around to possibly aid Nathan in his argument. "I went to the funeral to see if Nathan was right because if Five would return, he was probably right about the apocalypse as well. So … here we are now." 

"So, why are you not allowing Nathan into the house again?" Of course, he would have no luck in avoiding this conversation. Not with Diego fucking Hargreeves around who was the nosiest person alive.

"Because of Reggie" Nate sighed. 

"Of course, because of Reggie!" As Klaus looked at his brother, he could see understanding flicker through his brown eyes.

"The mausoleum" Diego sighed and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But Reggie is gone now. He can't do anything to your boy - or you."

"It's still … going back there wasn’t easy for me, Diego. I didn't run away for no reason."

"I know" He sighed. "I know … He was a bastard but … if Nate could tell us what’s gonna happen and what happened to Reggie then- crap! "

"Language!" Nate cheered.

"What?"

"I threw away the monocle!" Diego exclaimed suddenly - which didn't help Klaus' initial confusion. 

"Fuck!" Nathan grinned.

"What?"

"Dad’s monocle! I … kinda stole it." Of course, Diego would steal the monocle. Luther would probably see it as proof of Diego’s involvement in Reggie’s death but Klaus could already tell that Diego had only stolen the monocle because he was petty like this. Diego had always been the rebel of the family, however, the way he had chosen to express his rebellion was usually pretty tame and sometimes a little dumb. "I mean ... I found it in Mom’s things and took it because I was afraid that if Luther would find it there, he would freak out and say that she killed Dad or something. So, I took it and threw it in the river."

"Ah, so that's why you were brooding at the docks earlier while I was starving."

"Yeah … Fuck … the monocle would have been useful now!"

"Well, if I could just … go into the house and maybe visit Reggie’s bedroom…"

"No, Nathan!" And now Klaus put every ounce of authority into his voice that he could muster even though the lamp above him started to flicker a little. Now was certainly not the time to lose his composure. "I told you no. And now I would say it's time for you to go to bed. You have school tomorrow."

"And why is school important when the worlds going up in flames in eight days?"

"It just is."

"Why?"

"Because I’m your dad and I say so." 

Nathan rolled his eyes but, in the end, he got up, turned to where Ben was sitting on one of the chairs at the dining table, and said: "Come, Uncle Ben, Dad’s being an idiot again." And with that Nathan left the room and walked back into his bedroom.

"Ben?" Diego echoed quietly.

Klaus really wasn’t in the mood to talk about Ben right now with Diego even though he knew that his brother had a right to know about Ben and would be over the moon if Klaus would make him visible. "Hey … if you wanna stay … you can sleep here. But I’m afraid I can only offer you the floor or the couch. I mean the couch is a pull-out and we can fit both on it, probably … I would stay up a bit longer and have a chat but I’m tired and I have a client tomorrow so…"

"A client?"

"Old lady who thinks her house is haunted."

"Her house is haunted!" Nathan yelled from his room.

"I know it is! That's why I’m going! Lights out! Ben! Tell him!" 

"Ben is here?" Diego asked again just like he had expected him to. Well, it was inevitable. 

"Of course, he is" Klaus opted for being funny because that was his go-to when he was facing something uncomfortable. "Why wouldn't our dear dead brother be with the one person who can see him?"

"Since … when has he been there?"

"Since he died."

Diego’s eyes were almost falling out of his head at that. "But you can't see ghosts when you are high."

"Ben was always different." Klaus shrugged. "I don't know why. He just was. Even when I was high, I could still see him." 

"And Nate can see ghosts too?"

"He does. But not like me - thank God. Can you imagine?" It would have been a complete nightmare if Nathan had inherited his powers. After all, it was bad enough for Klaus and he had a much better grip on his powers now. Then again, maybe Nathan’s experience would have been different than Klaus’ had been. After all, there wouldn't have been a Reginald Hargreeves in Nathan’s life who would have punished him for being afraid and no siblings who thought he was crazy or making things up for attention. "He only sees ghosts at places where they are really strong like at that house I’m heading to tomorrow." 

"Can you … I mean can I see Ben too?"

"Sure" Sometimes it was still weird for Klaus how easy it was now to make Ben corporal or any other ghost if he wanted to. It had taken him so long to get to this point and without Nathan and Ben, he would have probably never managed to reach it. Dealing with the ghosts had been his worst nightmare all his life and after he got Nate, there had been no other choice for him if he wanted to keep his son with him. Learning how to deal with his powers without drugs and having a screaming baby had been a complete nightmare. So often he had wanted to call his big brother for help - but at least he had had Ben. Ben who had watched Nathan while Klaus had tried to sleep. His son’s guardian angel who would even stay by his side at school sometimes just to make sure that the little guy was safe. He had told Ben not to help Nate during tests but he knew that his brother still did. And for Klaus, it was nice to know that Ben was watching Nathan when Klaus couldn't.

"Hey Ben" He called out to his brother who was probably scheming with Nate and keeping his son from actually going to sleep. Shortly after, Ben walked through the door and cocked his head. "The boss might be acting like a grown-up but he’s still a kid and needs his beauty sleep. You are a bad influence on him."

"I am a bad influence? Who put gummy bears into his pancakes because he wanted gummy bears? If anything, I am the only responsible person in this household." 

"Ben!" Diego gasped and all but jumped from the couch. Only then Ben seemed to realize that Klaus had made him corporal as he stared at Diego a little dumbfounded. It had become so normal for them that Ben sometimes didn't register it. Right now, however, he was taken aback by it and Klaus could see how overwhelmed he was by the prospect that their brother could see him. Diego, however, didn't waste any second to get over to Ben and wrap him in a very manly bro-hug that would have certainly left Ben with a broken spine if he wouldn't have been dead already. Diego was also very clearly not crying about seeing his dead brother.

"Well, would you look at that" Klaus sighed. "The even numbers back together again to cause havoc." He knew that he couldn't hold it for long tonight. He was absolutely exhausted from the day and ready to pass out. Still, he just watched his brothers reunite after so long a time, hugging it out, talking, and just enjoying that they could do that before Ben started to flicker ominously.

"Klaus" Ben turned to him. "You’re tired. Come on, go to bed." 

"But-"

"It's okay. You can make me corporal anytime you want but you’ll need your strength tomorrow." 

"Oh shit, sorry" Diego muttered. "I didn't even think about it."

He allowed Ben to fade back into his ghost-hood and Diego, though looking a little torn, smiled at him before he walked over to where Klaus was still sitting on the couch. "Get up," He said to Klaus. "I’m taking care of our sleeping arrangements."

"So you’re staying?"

"Are you kidding me?" Diego laughed. "Of course, I am." 

※※※※※※※

The next morning came with the smell of eggs and bacon sizzling in a pan on his old stove. Klaus woke up feeling a bit groggy but as he looked over the backrest of the old couch, he found his brother Diego standing in his kitchenette as if he had done that a million times already. The way Diego stood there, with Nate sitting on one of the countertops sipping his orange juice and chatting idly with his uncle, looked so domestic and normal that it almost hurt Klaus’ head. Leave it to Diego to make him feel like they had never been apart for longer than a day or two. He could easily admit now that he had really missed his big brother - his best friend. 

"Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Diego drawled as he caught sight of him. "Just in time for breakfast." 

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes at that. "Why didn't you wake me?" He tried to sound petulant but he knew that this hardly ever worked on Diego anyway and certainly not on Nathan.

"Uncle Dee said to let you sleep in a little."

Ben snorted at the comment. He was sitting in the wicker chair to his side and was leaving through a magazine. "You were out cold and slept like a baby. It was actually kinda cute." 

Nathan snickered quietly. "Oh shush, Ben" He sighed. 

"No, honestly it was like when we were kids! As soon as Diego is back in your life and sharing a bed with you, Klaus Hargreeves sleeps like a newborn child."

He groaned but Diego, as always, was here to save the day even though he couldn't see or hear Ben right now. "Stop talking shit, Benjamin, or I’m calling an exorcist. That won’t get rid of you but I guess it's not pleasant either." 

"Oh my God! Two and Four ganging up on little old me yet again! It's really like in the old times!" 

With a snicker, Klaus slowly got up from his sofa and staggered towards the kitchenette to ruffle through Nate’s curls. His son was already dressed and ready to leave for school as it seemed. Klaus briefly noted that the sleeves of Nathan’s hoodie started to become a little short. That boy was growing like weeds. The empty plate standing beside him on the counter suggested that he had already had breakfast too. 

"You got up early, huh?"

"I wanted to talk to Uncle Dee" Nate shrugged and Diego grinned as they shared a conspiratorial look. For some reason, Klaus didn't like that look that was shared between those two at all. He would grill Ben about it later. If Nathan would be teaming up with Diego the world would definitely end up in flames. 

"I offered to drop him off at school today," Diego interjected. "Because he said you need to get to your client early and since you don't drive…"

"He usually takes the bus" Klaus yawned. "The school bus stops right around the corner. He can get to school all on his own, right Nathie?" Nathan’s rolled his eye in a way of answering his question.

"Let me spoil my nephew a little" Diego huffed before he quickly prepared a plate of eggs and bacon for Klaus and handed it to him. It smelled heavenly. "It's my job as his uncle and I have to make up for eleven years here, okay?"

"Oh, trust me, that little goblin is spoiled enough." 

"Daaaad?"

"See?" He took a piece of bacon and bit into it. "Okay, fine." He then sighed. "Be my guest, drop him off at school. But you" He turned to Nate. "behave. Your poor uncle lives at a gym."

"And how do you know that?" If it would have been possible, Diego’s eyebrows would have just vanished into his hairline. 

"Just because I laid low the past thirteen years doesn't mean I wouldn't know what my siblings did." He answered with a smirk and a wink. 

"He always followed your fights!" Nate grinned widely - always ready to throw his father under the bus. "He has all your posters from the boxing matches you were in. There’s blood on one of them too."

"You … what? How?"

"I might have snuck in to watch?"

"Okay, you know what?" Diego said with a sigh. "I’m putting you up for adoption, Klaus. You are the worst. You snuck in to watch my fights and yet never came to say hello?"

"I was just being careful." Klaus shrugged. And he had missed his brother. Sneaking in whenever he had been able to and certain that Diego wouldn't notice him had been such a relief those past years since he returned to the city. It had given him comfort to see how Diego was beating the shit out of another fighter every now and again. To know that all he needed to do was reach out to Diego to have him back in his life had been comforting. 

"Anyway" Diego sighed and glanced at the clock on the wall. "I think we need to get going now, Nate." Then he turned to Klaus. "Are you coming to the house later? We have to tell the others about the apocalypse - and about Nate."

He knew that there was no way around it. Still, he hated that Diego was right. Sure, Reginald was no threat anymore but he still didn't want to get his son involved in all of this mess. "Yeah, I’m coming to the house after my client. I doubt it will take long." 

"Okay then" Diego hit the countertop before patting his brother’s shoulder. "Let's hit the road then Nate!" 

※※※※※※※

He knew that he shouldn't do this. He knew that it was a bad idea. Worse than that one time when he had thought it would be genius to surf down the formal staircase on an old mattress and broke his leg. He knew that Klaus would be angry. Angrier than that one time when Diego had actually taped his brother to a wall while he slept and refused to cut him down for two hours. He also knew that, if the apocalypse really was coming, they needed Nathan’s help to actually stop it. 

"This is a baaaaad, bad idea" He hummed as he pulled the car over and put it into park. The house looked daunting how it stood there and stared down at him out of cold dead eyes. This house seemed so much like a representation of his dead father that Diego had really dreaded coming back here in the first place as the news broke of Reginald’s death. He had left shortly after Klaus had run away in the middle of the night - heartbroken about his brother’s sudden disappearance and determined to find his own path in life. Well, that hadn't gone too well for Diego, he assumed, but at least he was his own master.

"Maybe," The young boy in the passenger seat said cheerfully. "but I mean, Dad’s ideas are always bad and just because he’s stubborn…"

"Mhm … fine" He sighed. "Okay but don't run off, okay? The house is a little like a labyrinth when you don't know it." 

"Fine" Nathan huffed and drummed his fingers on his knees. "Can we go inside now, Uncle Diego? Pleaaaaase! I’m begging you! I always wanted to see this place! Dad never really wanted to talk about this place or his time here."

"For good reason" Diego replied sternly as he looked at the little boy. Until now, it had not even occurred to him to ask Klaus what he had told his son about his time at the academy. How much did Nathan really know about Reginald and their years of being superheroes? What did he know about Five’s disappearance and Ben’s death? What did he really know about Klaus’ time on the street or his drug habit? Maybe none of those were topics you would want to discuss with a child. "Reginald was a monster and he treated your dad badly. He treated all of us badly." 

"Dad told me, that Gramps locked him in a mausoleum."

"Yes" He turned off the engine and pulled out the keys. "Good, come now. We are not getting any younger here and we should be done with this before your dad realizes that you are not at school and decides to rip my head off."

"Dad’s a pacifist." Nathan snorted. 

"He sure is but I’ve seen him yesterday. He’s very protective of you. Klaus was always someone who needed his family so … just the fact that he stayed away from us for so long just to protect you from Reggie says a lot." 

"So you’re saying he is a lion mom." 

"Yes." 

"Uncle Ben says the same thing." 

They got out of the car and onto the sidewalk. He put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. The boy was hardly half his size. He was shorter than Five was and just as skinny as Klaus used to be back in the day. He wouldn't lie. The little guy was waking his protective urges just like Klaus used to do. He felt himself hesitate to actually lead the little guy inside this house after Klaus had been so adamant about it. Nathan would surely meet at least Luther and Allison inside - but also mom. 

"Wow" Nathan grinned as they stood in front of the house. "Do I get to meet the others too?"

"Maybe." Diego sighed. "Okay, let's go." 

They walked up the stairs to the front door and Diego let Nathan through first before he followed him inside. Suddenly, the house felt different. He couldn't even say why. He hadn't felt it yesterday or right after his dad’s death. Now, however, he felt as if a fog had been lifted. The house seemed warmer as he entered it now. The monster underneath Ben’s bed and in Klaus’ closet was gone. The oppressing force that was their father had finally vanished. 

"It's huuuuuuuuuuge" Nathan said in marvel of the reception hall. 

"Okay … so … we should start at Dad’s bedroom, I guess. That's where he died and if his death had something to do with the apocalypse..." 

"Okay, fine but after that, I can see Dad’s old room, yes?"

"Deal" 

He was quick to lead Nathan up the formal staircase and into the gallery. He wanted to avoid any of his siblings for as long as he could to get shit done before their siblings would come in and mess everything up again like they were so prone to do. His siblings would get all upset about Nathan’s existence - or rather that they hadn't known about his existence - and forget anything else. They would waste precious time with petty arguments and yelling and, in the end, the apocalypse would come and ravage this planet because, once again, the Hargreeves siblings couldn't get their shit together. 

"Amazing!" Nathan’s eyes were filled with wonder as they walked past Reginald’s collection of Umbrella Academy merchandise. Of course, Nathan would stop to look at all of this stuff. "Is that Dad?" He then pointed at one of the oil portraits that Reginald had commissioned of them every few years to document their growths into adults. This particular one had been painted after Five had vanished and shortly before Ben had died.

"Yes, we were sixteen, I think."

"Dad is always looking away" Nathan chuckled. 

"He was a drama queen."

"He’s still a drama queen." 

"Well … In the beginning, we were all loving this superhero stuff … I think Klaus was the first to grow tired of it." Diego then chuckled quietly. "Our father always made sure to make Klaus realize that he was less than what he wanted him to be. He was always the lookout because his powers were not very helpful to Dad and yet he insisted on sending him with us. I don't know why he did that. I mean, it was dangerous. Klaus could have easily gotten hurt during those missions. At one point, your dad just gave up trying to make Reggie proud."

"Dad never said when he started taking drugs…"

Of course, he had known that Nathan knew that his father was a former addict but to hear it out of his mouth was still odd. "He was thirteen" Diego then said. "He dabbled in it for a bit before Five vanished. Sometimes he snuck into Dad’s liquor cabinet. Sometimes we both did. Sometimes we smoked together, cigarettes at first, then weed. And after Five vanished … yeah, that's when it started to escalate. Klaus never said why but I think I might have a good enough understanding."

"What do you think happened?"

"I think that our dear old papa put too much pressure on him. I think that Dad thought that Five might have died and that he wanted Klaus to conjure him. Dad could be brutal in his approach and he was not a very patient man. Klaus was, in his eyes, always too weak, too soft, too gentle. He tried beating it out of him. Thankfully, he didn't succeed in that." 

"He looks mean," Nathan said nodding towards the large oil painting above the fireplace downstairs that could be seen from the gallery.

"He was a monster," Diego confirmed with a nod before putting an arm around Nathan to lead him further into the house. "Okay, we’re almost there." 

They left the gallery to enter another narrow corridor and walked down for a while, past his father’s office and then up a narrow staircase that led into the top floor, down yet another corridor and they finally entered his father’s private chambers under the roof of the house with the large gable windows overlooking the backyard. Everything was still as it was yesterday. the dust hung heavy in the air and the bed was still like it was the night his father died. Grace had not made it or tidied up more than necessary.

"His room looks like he was a vampire."

Diego chuckled. "We had our theories: Vampire, Alien … we never quite knew." 

"He died on the bed?"

"Yes. Hey … are you sure about that, Nate? I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do."

"It's cool."

Nathan walked over to the bed and then looked around the room. Diego watched as Nathan, very tentatively, extended his left hand to touch the pillow of the old man. Nothing happened. Nothing like in the movies at least. He didn't flinch or jerk violently, just stood there, his brows furrowed in concentration before he took his hand off of the pillow again.

"He … Uhm ... So it was poison." Nathan then suddenly said before he turned to Diego. "Grace was here. She didn't help him, though."

"You mean … Mom … killed him?"

"No. I mean she didn't help." Nathan sighed. "I think he killed himself."

"Whats’ going on here?" Luther’s loud voice almost made Diego jump and, as he turned to his giant of a brother, Luther looked at him and then at the little boy near their father’s bed. "Who’s that?" 

**-End of Chapter 3-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think <3


	4. Chapter 4

Silence rested heavily on the Umbrella Academy. It was so thick that it was almost deafening as they sat together in the great, large living room of the mansion. The only person that seemed completely oblivious to the heaviness of the silence and the implications of that silence, was Nathan. The little boy sat next to Diego on the plush red sofa and grinned over his whole face, a steaming hot mug of cocoa in his hands that Mom had given him after she had been done cooing over the boy with the words ‘He looks just like his daddy!'.

Vanya, Allison, and Luther had gathered around them. Apparently, by some cosmic coincidence, Vanya had come to the house in search of Five. By the time Vanya had reached the house, however, the gremlin had already left again and was now nowhere to be found. Sitting in the living room now, after Luther had caught him and Nathan snooping around in Reggie’s room, Diego noticed that it seemed like that there was something going on between the girls. He could almost smell the argument that was lingering between them like three days old garbage. Of course, he had not grown up alongside those two girls so that he wouldn't be able to tell when they were at odds with each other. The tension was vibrating in the air even as they stared at the new addition to the family with unbridled excitement. 

Luther was staring directly at Diego, though. His blue eyes were boring into Diego’s very soul.

"So, what's going on?" Luther finally, after what felt like hours, asked. The lines on his face clearly told Diego that his brother had no idea yet whether to be angry, confused, or just bewildered by the situation - so he had opted for all three at once. "Who’s this? You can't honestly tell me that this is-"

"Klaus’ son" Diego replied as if it was obvious. Then again, just by looking at Nate, it really was that obvious. "Yes, it's true. That’s Nathan and he’s eleven and-"

"And Nathan can talk for himself, Uncle Diego" The little boy huffed. In response, Allison allowed a small cackle to slip out before she took a sip of the whiskey that she had poured herself after the initial shock of seeing a miniature version of her brother Klaus sitting in this room. Despite the shock, however, so far his siblings did not seem very surprised. Then again it had been sort of a running gag between them all that Klaus was the most likely to bring home a kid at some point that he had fathered during one of his escapades. 

"I’d say he sounds a lot more like Five than Klaus." Vanya, surprisingly, chimed in. "Are we sure he’s not Five’s kid?" 

"That's him, right?" Nathan pointed at the portrait of the time traveler above the fireplace. "Where is he?"

"Poof, gone - again." Allison sighed. "Anyway, how does Klaus have a child now?" Naturally, his siblings were all still flabbergasted. They would need time to understand it. Grace had quickly brushed it off. She had taken one look at the boy, smiled, hugged him, and started cooing over him as any real grandmother would do. As for his siblings, it had been a bit harder to grasp the fact that Diego was not taking the piss and that Nathan really was Klaus’ son.

"Well, if a man and a woman love each other very much-"

"That's not important right now!" Luther cut Nathan off right away but that did nothing to wipe the grin off of Nathan’s face. He was very clearly enjoying himself here. Luther, on the other hand, clearly had decided to brush off his confusion and shock for the moment being. It was probably easier for him to return his attention back to his quest to find out about their father’s death. Luther needed a mission in life to function and his current mission was Reginald’s death. As long as he did have a mission, nothing else was of importance. "He said something about Dad killing himself." 

"You know, Luther" Diego hissed and leaned his body more into the direction of his brother, anger flaring up inside of him. "Maybe you try actually talking to Nathan instead of acting like he isn’t here. Maybe if you’d try talking to your nephew you would get the answers you seek." 

"It's okay, Uncle Dee" Nathan muttered unbothered. "That's the plight of being an eleven-year-old child. No one takes you seriously and adults always talk about you like you are not in the same room." 

Allison barked out a loud and very unladylike laugh at that. "He is Klaus’ son!" 

"Okay," Luther groaned but finally turned his attention towards the boy. "Nathan. Tell us what you meant then and … why were you guys in Dad’s room anyway? What was this all about Diego?"

"It was about my powers."

"What powers?" Vanya chimed up once more in confusion. 

Getting his siblings up to speed was quite the pain in the ass - as had been expected. His siblings had never been good listeners, after all. Especially Luther was always prone to chime in with some wise commentary or stupid question. However, when he finally managed to do that, Nathan could tell what he had found out and told Diego.

"That doesn't make any sense" Luther muttered after Nathan was done with his report. The little guy still seemed very much unimpressed with the group of ex-superheroes around him. Growing up with Klaus as your dad will probably do that to a little boy. "Why would Dad kill himself?" 

"Maybe it has something to do with the apocalypse."

"And you believe that apocalypse crap, Diego? I mean he's Klaus’ kid!"

"Hey!" Nathan hissed and almost jumped up. In fact, he looked ready to throw his empty mug at Luther for the rude comment. Diego had never felt more pride in his life than at that exact moment. "Watch your mouth, big guy, okay? You don't get to insult my dad!"

"Five said something about the apocalypse too" Vanya hurried to say before Nathan would jump at Luther and scratch his eyes out. Diego immediately put his arm around his nephew, proud of the bite the little guy had. "He was at my apartment last night and told me about it. Apparently, that's where he ended up after he jumped through time. And he also said that the apocalypse would be in eight days - but that was yesterday, so … seven days - April 1st." 

"Exactly!" Nathan grinned from ear to ear again. "I told Dad that Five would come back, that's why he came to the funeral yesterday! I wasn’t sure at first if all of this would come true and so I sent Dad here to check!" 

"Okay and … what causes the apocalypse?" 

"I don't know. I didn't see that. I just saw … the destruction, the destroyed academy and-" He snapped his mouth shut quickly and Diego squeezed his shoulder in reassurance. "You were all dead. Daddy too." 

Daddy. Even though Nathan was kind of a loud-mouth and didn't shy away from speaking his mind, in the end, he was only an eleven-year-old boy. He couldn't even imagine how hard it must have been for Nathan to actually have a vision of his father being dead. A father, he obviously loved very much. A father who was his entire world. Even to Diego, it had been a shock when Reginald died, despite everything. 

"Well … that's … depressing." Allison sighed. "So what now? How are we fighting this if we don't know what to fight?" 

"Maybe … if I could touch something that was there, I could find out what caused it."

"So, maybe if Five still has something on him-"

"DIEGO HARGREEVES YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO YOUNG MAN!" It was as if a bomb had gone off as the yell echoed through the house, followed by the sound of the front door being slammed shut.

"Oh shit!" Nathan almost jumped from the sofa but Diego grabbed him by the back of his shirt to keep him where he was and hissed:

"Nope, you are not leaving me alone with this, it was your idea too! We are in this together!" He couldn't deny, though, that he felt his heart racing just a tiny bit at the sound of Klaus’ fury. He knew that he shouldn't have done this. He had betrayed his brother’s trust, after all. He had told him that he would drop his son off at school and then he had brought him to the one place Klaus never wanted him to be at. 

Following the shout that had announced Klaus’ presence to the house, Number Four all but stomped into the living room. He was, naturally, fuming with anger like they had never seen their beloved Séance, a very much corporal and blue glowing Ben Hargreeves trailing after him. Klaus almost looked a bit scary as he pointed one glowing finger sharply at Diego like a witch that was about to utter a curse on him.

"You!" Klaus hissed. "You need to explain yourself to me, Diego Hargreeves! And you" He pointed at Nathan next and just as sharply. "You better think of a reason why I should not be grounding you until you’re eighteen! I told you that I don't want you to come here - ever! "

"But Dad!"

"Don't ‘but dad’ me, young man! Why are you not at school?" It would have been comical if Klaus would not look so scary at that moment. Ben kept his mouth shut but nodded in agreement with Klaus, his arms crossed firmly, his stare disappointed. Well, shit. They had this parent-act down to a t. 

"Hey, I took him here, okay?" Diego chimed in and pulled Nathan a bit closer. "It's my fault! But this is important! He was able to tell us that-"

" School is important too, Number Two!"

"Yeah? So what good will it do him when he knows algebra but the world is going up in flames in a couple of days?" 

Klaus visible ground his teeth at that.

"He’s got a point" Ben finally said and provoked a look of utter betrayal from Klaus in return. The rest of their siblings were just baffled and lost by everything that was happening right in front of them now. Not only was their brother Klaus throwing a fit and yelling at his brother and his own son but also their dead brother Ben was right there next to him.

"Well!" Klaus clapped without mirth and turned to face the rest of the group at last. The grin he gave them was biting. "Everyone! Meet my son and remember what he looks like because he will be grounded for the rest of his life after this." 

After the initial shock of the situation had finally died down a little, the siblings and Nathan sat in the giant room in silence, Nathan wedged in between Klaus and Diego and the rest sitting awkwardly around them. 

"Okay, so to sort this whole mess out" Vanya sighed and dragged a hand down her face. "We need Five." 

"Yes," Klaus nodded.

"Fine" Vanya sighed and slowly got up from her seat. "I … uhm … I come by later again, okay? I have a student in an hour and still need to rehearse for the orchestra."

"That's important, Vanya." Luther addressed their sister with a frown, much to Diego’s confusion. Sure it was important. But how would Vanya be able to help them?

"I agree but … I can't really help you guys anyway and if you manage to save the world I will still need a job, right? Hey … Now that we are all back together … We could … I don't know … order take out … and eat together tonight?"

"That's actually a great idea." Klaus smiled at his sister. 

"Oh, wow first you didn't want your son to come here and now having dinner here suddenly sounds like a great idea?"

"Well, thanks to a certain someone my son, whom I absolutely didn't want to get involved in all of this mess, is already here so, yes, it's a great idea!" 

"Boys!" Allison sighed. "Just kiss and make up, okay? Jesus." 

Nathan proved once again that he was only a child as he allowed a high pitched giggle to slip out. "Yes! Kiss and make up!" Klaus flicked his forehead at that.

"Thin ice, young man, thin ice."

※※※※※※※

He was not happy to be at the house with his son but since he was already here now, he couldn't stop Nathan from asking questions and rummaging through his old stuff. Diego had excused himself from the group shortly after Vanya had left. Apparently, despite the looming end of the world, he still wanted to play Batman and decided that he would go and see what this shooting at Griddy’s Doughnuts had been all about last night before he got to meet Nathan. 

Right now, Klaus Hargreeves was watching with a little unease how his son was talking animatedly to Luther and Ben while Allison sat beside him on the chaise lounge in the living room under Reginald Hargreeves’ steely gaze. His sister was nursing yet another drink. Normally he wouldn't even take note of it or think any of it, but knowing what he knew about Allison’s private life and knowing that his sister had never been drinking much, he was just a bit concerned. 

"You are drinking a little much, Sister." He said after a while of silence between them and nudged her shoulder gently. "Do I need to worry? It's not even noon yet."

"Coming from you?"

"Hey, I’m eleven years sober!" He chuckled and immediately her face turned into that shocked expression she would always get when saying something incredibly hurtful without realizing it at first. He remembered how she once told him in anger that make-up and skirts were only for girls without realizing how hurtful it would be to him. She had apologized though - after Klaus had bawled his eyes out at the cruel remark and after Diego had threatened to slit her favorite teddy’s throat. 

"Shit … I’m sorry … I know ...I know it's-"

"It's okay" Klaus smirked and clinked their glasses together. He was drinking ice tea, of course. A few years ago, he wouldn't have been able to sit next to someone who was drinking alcohol without craving to have some too. "Don't worry it's fine. But my point still stands." 

"It's just … about Claire and Patrick…" 

"Yeah … I heard about the divorce on the news … What happened?"

"Things got ugly between Patrick and me."

"No shit, Sherlock"

She leveled a glare at him before she all but whispered: "I … used my powers on Claire." 

"Oh shit."

"Now the court says I have to do this mandatory therapy thing before I can have visitation. I mean … there were days where she’d have these epic meltdowns. And no matter what I said, she wouldn't stop. She was three then, and I … I know that's what three-year-olds are supposed to do. So I said I would do it that one time. Only it wasn't just that one time. I told myself any … parent with my power would do the same." She scoffed at her own thoughts and Klaus grabbed her free hand to squeeze it gently. "That it wasn't wrong. I just had an advantage."

Klaus was silent for a while. He watched how Nathan was telling Luther some outlandish story. That it had to be outlandish he could tell by the way he was waving his arms around and how animated his face was. Luther actually smiled at what Nathan was saying and a part of him wished that he would have allowed Nathan to meet his siblings sooner - but that would have meant that he would have probably met Reginald too. Nathan really didn't have any friends at school so it was nice to see him talk to someone else and to see that he was able to express himself so openly.

"I get it" He sighed and bumped his shoulder with hers. "From one mommy to another, sometimes I would have given my left arm to have your power when he was little."

"I didn't even ask but … Where is his mom?" He had expected the question to come sooner or later. His siblings had expected quite quickly that their good-for-nothing ex-junkie brother had a child with an unknown woman. Well, it had been quite the running gag when they were younger. Luther had once said that he would probably knock someone up during one of his nightly escapades and the rest of their siblings had laughed and explained to Luther that Klaus liked boys. Well, those had been more innocent times. Who would have thought that Luther would be right, in the end? 

"She died in childbirth." He said quietly so that Nathan wouldn't hear them talk about his mom. He knew the story but that didn't mean it wouldn't be hard for the little guy sometimes. Especially since Klaus didn't even have a real picture of his mother that he could show Nathan. He only had a strip of crappy black and white photos from a photo booth that they had taken before hooking up. 

"So, you raised him all by yourself?"

"Mhm pretty much."

"Did you … love his mom?" Allison asked quietly and Klaus felt a wave of love wash through him for his sister. The way she looked at him - It was clear that she was trying to be mindful and careful to not pour salt in any open wound he might have.

"It was more … a happy little accident." Klaus laughed and scratched his neck. "I did what Dad and Luther always feared. I partied too hard, took too many drugs, drank too much, and knocked someone up. Oopsie. No regrets, though. If it wouldn't be for the little goblin, I would still be sleeping in the streets, going down on my knees in front of strangers."

"I have no right to complain" Allison decided suddenly. "I had the money and resources and messed up while you were getting clean to keep your son and raised him all by your lonesome without a penny to your name."

"No, I get why you did it." He chuckled. "In the beginning, the first couple of years were extremely hard. There were so many times when I wanted to give up, you know? There were so many nights when I was freezing cold because I couldn't afford to turn on the heat, or hungry because I couldn't afford to feed both of us, or when he was driving me crazy with his temper tantrums and meltdowns - so many times that I wanted to come here, put Nathan into mom’s arms and leave to get high."

"But you didn't."

"No, I didn't. That doesn't mean I was perfect, though. I made plenty of mistakes myself and yes, if I had your powers, maybe I would have used them on him too. I mean … It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows and I am very lucky that he turned out to be such a bright child - that he’s healthy." He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "I mean … His mother was a junkie, Allison. His father was a junkie. He was born prematurely and his mother didn't stop using while pregnant. It's a miracle that he’s here now and the first years were just hard for us both. At least I had Ben to help a bit. I would have been completely lost without him. I remember falling asleep at work or in the middle of changing diapers." 

Allison laughed at the mental image and he wiggled his eyebrows at her. "I’m so proud of you though, little brother. I mean … look at him. He’s smart, he’s healthy, and he could give Five a run for his money when it comes to being snarky and snappy. You did a good job. You should’ve heard how he defended you earlier against Luther."

"I’m kinda proud of myself too." Klaus huffed. "I just wished … Fuck … I never wanted him to get involved with anything that was even remotely related to the academy. First, I was just afraid that Dad would find us and take him from me and do the same shit to him that he did to me. And now that Dad is dead … I should feel at ease but I don’t. I don't want him to be here."

"I understand." Allison sighed. "But if the end of the world is coming and we might be able to stop it with Nathan’s help…"

"Yes … Yes, I know." 

"Daddy!" Nathan suddenly all but shrieked through the room and made them both flinch. "Can I go to the observatory? Uncle Luther wants to show me something!"

He exchanged a small glance with Allison before she giggled. "Yes, Boss! Off you go! Just don't annoy Uncle Luther!" 

A second later, Uncle Luther was already carrying Nathan on his shoulders and Klaus suddenly doubted that there was anything Nathan could do that would annoy Uncle Luther.

"A part of me now regrets that I never told you guys about Nathie." He sighed and shook his head with a smirk. "It would have been fun having his uncles and aunties around to spoil him rotten. But I guess Uncle Diego will make up for that missed time soon." 

" _Uncle Diego_ " Allison turned it over in her mouth and laughed again. "Unbelievable. My baby brother is a dad. How did Diego react when he found out? Did he pass out? I bet he passed out."

"I thought he was going to murder me. He was so pissed." Klaus laughed. 

"He missed you a lot - all those years."

"I missed him too. There were so many times when I just wanted my brother there with me." He had made the decision to not involve any of his siblings, though. Sure, Diego might have missed him and suffered from his decision but Klaus had suffered all the same. Maybe things would have been easier with Diego by his side, or the others. A part of him was glad though that it hadn't been easier. Sometimes the hardest path held the best rewards.

※※※※※※※

He wanted to say that it felt like in the old times as they were sitting together with take-out in the grand room of the mansion underneath the watchful gaze of Sir Reginald but that would have been a lie, of course. As children, they had never done anything like this. He remembered once or twice camping out down here with cookies and cocoa when Reginald had been on some kind of trip but that had been the most of it. Reginald Hargreeves had never fostered a good relationship between the siblings and always made it very clear to all of them, that he was not expecting them to consider each other siblings. They were soldiers, weapons, first and foremost - meant to save the world. Funny, how he seemed to have been onto something, in the end. However, the old man had probably not expected Klaus’ son to play a role in all of this. 

His son, who had fallen asleep next to him on the plush sofa half an hour ago.

"He looks cute when he sleeps." Allison huffed. "Like a tiny baby Klausie." 

"Yeah, you would never know what a mean little goblin man he can be, right?" Klaus chuckled. He had put a blanket over his son and Nathan was resting comfortably with his curly head on his leg. His son wouldn't normally like to show it but he had always been cuddly. By now he had so many fond memories of him cuddling with his son during stormy nights or after they arrived at yet another new place. When he came back to the U.S., he had thought that he had been a crappy father for dragging Nathan all across Europe, never staying anywhere long enough to form decent friendships but now he was glad that he did. His son had been able to experience and see much more of the world than Klaus had for most of his life. Those experiences were worth their weight in gold. 

"So, what actually happened at Griddy’s last night?" Vanya turned to Diego just as the Kraken threw his napkin across the room to hit Luther who was biting in the last slice of his pizza and had not anticipated the attack, square in the face. Dumbfounded at the attack, Luther blinked but held himself back from throwing the napkin back - he wouldn't have hit his mark anyway. 

"I talked to the waitress who was on shift last night," Diego said leaning back in his seat on the sofa next to Nathan. "She said that a bunch of guys stormed in and started shooting at each other - she didn't actually see anything, though, and there are no security cameras there. So … dead end, I guess. The guys looked strange, though. They were all wearing tactical gear and - now comes the best part - the cops found fingerprints that match a cold case from 1938."

"Okay, first of all, how do you know that?"

"I have contacts."

"Ah, your ex-girlfriend " Klaus huffed and rolled his eyes at the look Diego shot him. "As I said this morning: Just because I dropped off of the face of the earth doesn't mean I wouldn't have known what was going on in your guys’ lives. So, I take it, Miss Patch was not very happy to have you snoop around." 

"Okay, brother" Diego turned around in his seat just to properly look at him. "Now I find you a tad bit suspicious. You say you still kept an ear out for all of us - okay, fine, I believe it. But how do you know her name? I would say you were stalking me."

"No, I’m just way better at getting information than you are, Baby. You see, my spooky friends see and hear everything." The answer to his words came in the form of a pillow that was thrown in his face. 

"Okay," Luther drawled. "So they have fingerprints from a cold case from 1938? Does anyone else think the same thing I think?"

"That you really shouldn't have eaten that third burrito?" Ben grinned. 

"That the police can't do their job properly?" Klaus offered with a grin and a wink at Diego.

"Five." Luther sighed. 

"But Five jumped into the future, not the past," Vanya muttered.

"Then some other time traveler?" Allison suggested between bites but it was obvious that she didn't really consider this as a possibility.

"Maybe - but how big are the chances?" As Diego looked at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, Klaus followed his gaze. It was almost ten and Five had not been back yet. "It would be really helpful if Five would return to the house." 

And, as if summoned by an ancient ritual, they heard the front door open and close, followed by rather silent footsteps. It was definitely not Mom and surely not Pogo either. Not one minute later, Five materialized in the doorway and stared at his siblings as if he was seeing them all for the very first time. "What's going on here?" He had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and looked a little worse for the wear, his uniform dirty and his hair disheveled. His eyes fell upon Klaus first. "I need your services tomorrow. I offer twenty bucks." 

"Okay, first of all: Rude. I am much more expensive than this, brother. I expect at least twenty-five bucks for my services. Second of all: What services would that be and do I have to get naked because in that case, I would need to do some sit-ups first."

"We can talk about that later" Five replied with a groan before he allowed his eyes to wander again over the scene in front of him. He didn't comment on the fact that they had had dinner without him. Five was a much more rational little gremlin to complain about such a thing. Instead he slowly - and very carefully - put down his duffel bag, walked over and around the sofa Klaus was sitting on, and grabbed the first thing he spotted on the table - Diego’s pizza. Naturally, Number Two had a knife at the ready. Five almost forgot to eat, though, as he caught sight of the sleeping child in Klaus’ arm, wedged in between Diego and Klaus.

There was a long moment of silence before Five nodded and looked at Klaus again. "I see you managed to reproduce." 

"Five," Luther said sharply. "Where have you been? None of us could find you." 

"That's none of your business."

"Hey … We just want to help you."

"You can't. None of you can do anything." And, before one of them had any opportunity to say anything else, Five had already blinked out of existence. 

**-End of Chapter 4-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am thinking about making this a series and adding a few one-shots that are taking place when Nathan is younger. I am bad though with writing about kids xD So, if you got any suggestions for stories about Nathan and Klaus' adventures: shoot!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caution: Don't feed after midnight.

The day was bright and sunny as Klaus was forced to dress in one of Reginald’s old suits to follow his brother Five - the angry gremlin - to some company called MeriTech. Not that Klaus cared much about the reason for him going there in the first place. His father’s suit was clean but it smelled like mothballs as it had been in the far back of the old man’s lavish closet. It was a miracle that it fitted him anyway. Well, maybe the pants and the jacket hung off of him a little too much. He felt like a little boy trying to wear his father’s clothes for the first time - even though Klaus would have been the little boy that wore his mother’s clothes instead. 

"Dad" Nathan moaned over his pancakes and his siblings chuckled at the sound - Well, Vanya chuckled and Allison all but snorted into her coffee. He assumed that it would take a bit of getting used to for them. "Do I really need to go to school today? I can be of much more use here!"

"Yes, Nate, you have to go to school today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow." Klaus sighed. They had had this argument before and it was starting to get a little old. Of course, it wasn’t easy to argue with his son when he had his Uncle Ben on his site - and now Uncle Diego too. Those two were a bad influence on the little guy. "In fact, you have to go to school until you graduate with straight As and then you will have to go to school even longer while you are going to college to become a doctor or a lawyer or a rocket scientist."

He was, of course, aware of the way his siblings stared at him with eyes as big as saucers. Well, yes, it was quite the departure from the Klaus they knew, right? The Klaus who had rolled blunts under the breakfast table, who snorted cocaine of his windowsill, who threw lavish dance parties in his bedroom in his underwear.

"Not if the world ends in six days." Five helpfully chimed in from where he waited for Klaus at the door and tapped his foot impatiently on the kitchen tiles. "Are you quite done yet? I agree with your son, actually. He seems to be inherently smarter than you are. If we can’t stop the end of the world, it won't do him any good if he goes to school today - and he really is of more help here." 

"Hey, listen, goblin man" Klaus turned to Five. "If you want my help, you better not give him ideas - he has enough of those all on his own already and doesn't need your influence." 

"I agree with Five, though," Luther said but he seemed a little more careful with his choice of words right now. "I mean … Nate found out that Dad was poisoned - maybe that Dad killed himself. Maybe he can find out more about that while you are gone. And I mean … none of us went to school so … how important can it be?"

"We were homeschooled, though." Allison interjected with a sigh. "By the best tutors of this country, no less. I agree with Klaus. Nathan, you should go to school. It's important." 

"Thanks, Sis!" Klaus grinned and high-fived Allison. "At least one of you guys has a brain."

"Can we get going now? I really don't care whether your offspring is here or at school! We don't have time for this bullshit!"

"I’m driving him to school!" Diego offered as he looked up at Klaus a little sheepishly.

"No, you’re not. Last time you drove him here."

"I’m driving him," Allison said with a smile, once again coming to his rescue as a fellow mom. "I promise that he will get there safely and right on time for first period."

※※※※※※※

"Well, this is not good." Five sighed as they walked out of the building and down the stairs leading up to the door. A sharp wind was pulling at Klaus disheveled curls and the glitter in his eye was stinging like a bitch.

"I was pretty good though, right? What about my consent, Bitch?" He chuckled even though his head still hurt and blood and glitter were still clinging to his skin.

"Klaus, it doesn't matter!" Five hissed back at him. He looked just as bad as Klaus felt right now with his split lips and the blood gushing out of the wound still. Well, at least they had given this guy Five had wanted to talk to a good show. It had felt nice to let out the old Klaus for a moment, the unhinged, completely bonkers, crazy Klaus. It didn't feel good though that he now had a cut on his forehead and glitter in his eye. 

"What? What? What's the big deal with this eye, anyway?" As if it wouldn't be weird enough that his brother Five was carrying around a mysterious glass eyeball like it was a completely normal thing to do for any young man going through their second puberty.

"There is someone out there who’s going to lose an eye in the next six days." His brother finally explained, anger lacing his words as he spoke. "Their gonna bring about the end of life on this Earth as we know it."

That gave him pause at last. "What did you just say?" Klaus said after a moment of hesitation. Talking to Five was often like tossing a dice. You never quite knew what kind of answer you would get - if any at all. He hadn't really questioned why Five needed his help at the laboratory in the first place or why this eye was so important but now that he knew he cursed himself for not asking sooner. Then again, there was always the potential of Five just zapping out of existence if he was being asked an uncomfortable question - or if he thought that the person he was talking to was just beneath him and not worth an answer. "Go back a bit! You found that eye in the apocalypse?"

"Yes, of course, I did! Didn't I say this before?"

"No, you absolutely have not!" Klaus shot back. "And did you not listen to what I said about Nathan’s powers?"

"He has precognition but what does that help us?"

"He sees the history of an object if he touches it, you donkey!" 

"What? You didn't say that!" Five replied sharply and pulled the eye out of his blazer again. For a second longer, he stared at the thing before he wrapped it back up into the napkin and offered it to Klaus. "Fine. Take it. Give it to Nate and see what he can say about it. A name would be great."

"That's not how it works. It’s more vague than that, it's-" Five’s glare shut him up right away. "Okay, okay!" He said lifting his hands in surrender. He knew how much damage Five could inflict even without a weapon and he was not eager to have a repeat of _the incident of 1998_.

Five turned away from him and took a few steps away from the building. 

"Hey - and where are you going now?"

"I have work to do."

※※※※※※※

The Gimbel Brothers department store looked a complete mess. Sure, that had to have been expected after a shootout. Diego was still impressed, though. The forensics were roaming the place and taking photos of the crime scene, hunching behind destroyed mannequins and milling their way through discarded clothes and all kinds of other crap. The evidence was scattered all over the damn place even after the cops should have been at it for hours now. 

"Do you seriously still not understand the chain of custody?" Eudora Patch sighed. She sounded exhausted - not that Diego cared much. Patch always sounded a tad-bit exhausted when she would be talking to him for some reason - almost as if she was carrying the weight of the whole world on her narrow shoulders. He still picked up the bullet casing he had found on the ground. "If you touch it, I can’t use it."

"Let me save you some time running ballistics." He said without looking at her as he slowly got up from the ground again. She should be glad that he was at least wearing gloves and not leaving his fingerprints all over the scene. Then again, she would probably love that and then throw him in jail just for giving her a migraine. "These nine-millimeters haven't been manufactured since 19-"

"1963. Odd, I know." She interrupted. "Matching cases were found at a murder scene last night. Ishmael’s Towing." 

"The driver that was at Griddy’s?" She glared at him. Of course, she would glare at him. She just hated it when he would sneak around and try to involve himself in an investigation - even if it did help her in the end. And it had helped her numerous times already in the past. She was just too prideful to admit that.

"Found him hanging from the ceiling. Looks like he must have known something after all."

"It's a shame that nobody told you to go talk to him." He replied with a smirk. Not that he was happy about that poor guy’s death but he was a little glad that Eudora got put down a peg and losing a possible lead just because she had refused to listen to him. Then again, there was a killer on the loose and that really wasn’t funny - not with everything that was going on lately. He couldn't quite shake off the feeling that Five’s return, the impending end of the world, and this killing spree that seemed to be going on, were connected. He just couldn't figure out how. 

"In the span of 24 hours, I've had attacks in three different places across town. Whatever this is, whoever this is, they're not slowing down." Eudora finally voiced was Diego himself was thinking too. "So, if you really give a shit and you've got any fresh ideas, I’m all ears."

Finally, he thought. Finally some fucking sense!

"The guy's kid, in the doughnut shop?"

"I've got units tracking the extended family in case anyone goes after him."

"Well, this place must have surveillance footage."

"No, it doesn't exist. The first unit on the scene clocked two shooters fleeing the premises, wearing - get this - creepy kids’ masks."

"The city is really going to shit, huh?" 

He could see the remark that was waiting on Eudora’s tongue to be spat out but she never got to say what she wanted to say as a cop suddenly called their attention. "Detective!" They both whirled around to look at the uniformed officer who was approaching them. He was one of the guys Diego knew from the station. Ramirez slowly made his way towards them as he was carefully avoiding to step into anything that might mess up the crime scene. In tow, he had a young boy, one hand tightly around the kid’s shoulder while the boy was slurping a smoothie with not a care in the world. "We have a snooper!"

"You’ve got to be kidding me" Diego sighed as he took in the sight before him. Nathan Hargreeves had the same unimpressed impish look on his face that his father used to portray to the world - and obviously the same disregard of societal norms and rules. 

"You know the kid?" Eudora asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"He’s my nephew."

"Your-"

"Uncle Dee!" Nathan grinned as he was a few feet away from them. "Cool crime scene! Can I help?"

Diego dropped his shoulders and walked over to Ramirez and Nathan. "It's okay, Ramirez." He sighed. "Kid’s with me." Ramirez looked at him funny but, as Eudora nodded, the officer shrugged and walked off again. He clearly was not paid enough to deal with any of Diego’s shenanigans. "So … are you going to tell me what you are doing here and not at school or do I have to torture you first?" 

"Bold of you to assume that any kind of torture would manage to break me, Uncle Diego. I live with my dad. I hear him singing under the shower every morning." 

"Touché."

Behind him, Eudora cleared her throat quite impressively. "Nephew?" She asked a little more high-pitched than usual. "Care to explain?"

"He’s … Uhm … Klaus’ kid."

" _Klaus_? You mean the-"

"Yes," Diego replied with an eye roll and put one arm around Nathan. He knew what she wanted to say. Klaus the junkie. Klaus the bum. He had not talked much about his family when they had still been a couple but he had talked about Klaus and how worried he was about him. She had been there in his darkest hours when he had been out and about searching high and low for his little brother, afraid that he might be dead in a ditch somewhere. "And I guess I will have to get Nathan back to his school now - or otherwise your dad bites my head off."

"But I wanna help, Uncle Diego!" Nathan claimed. "You know I can help! Please let me help!" 

"Your Dad wouldn't want-"

"Yeah but my dad is not the boss of you!" 

"You are not going to fall for that, right?" Eudora snickered behind him and Diego shot her a warning look - not that she would care. With a deep sigh, Diego shook his head. He knew that he was losing the battle already and wondered how Klaus had managed to do this for eleven years so far because it seemed impossible to deny Nathan anything. 

"He’s right, though" Diego sighed. "He can maybe help."<

"And how can an elementary school kid help in an investigation?"

"Wow, rude, Lady." Nathan huffed. 

"Give him the casing." Diego shrugged his shoulders.

"Diego … I can’t use this as evidence if-"

"I guess there will be more of those all over this crime scene." With a groan, Eudora handed Nathan the bullet casing and his eyes lit up in excitement. Of course, he was surprised that Eudora was not putting up more of a fight right now but also he was thankful that she wasn’t. He watched how Nathan turned the bullet casing over between his fingers, his brows furrowed in concentration.

"Okay, what is this-"

"Shhh!" Diego hissed and she, in response, glared at him.

"I can’t see their faces clearly." Nathan finally said after a moment of silence. "You are looking for a guy, pretty big - maybe as big as Uncle Luther - and a woman. She’s a real angry lady. She has darker skin - like Auntie Allison. They are wearing dark blue suits and they are looking for someone - that's why they came here and shot up the place. They … oh … I think they killed someone … like yesterday or something. An old guy." 

Nathan suddenly looked a bit green in the face and swayed on the spot, so, Diego quickly took the bullet casing from his fingers and handed it back to Eudora, before steadying his nephew. For a second he thought that Nathan might have seen the murder of the tow-truck driver and the thought sent shivers down his spine. This was exactly what Klaus had tried to prevent all those years, after all. He had never wanted his son to get involved in any of this drama and now, here the little guy was, at a crime scene, helping the police with his powers. Shit. He should have been more adamant that Nathan should leave. Klaus trusted him, after all. 

"You did awesome, Buddy." He said nonetheless, even despite feeling guilty. 

"How…"

"I feel loopy" Nathan muttered, sounding every bit the little boy that he truly was as he leaned into him a bit more. "But those two people are really dangerous and mean - especially the lady."

"It's okay," Diego said. "I’m getting you home now." 

"Hey, no … I need-"

"Later, okay, Eudora? I guess he gave you all the info he could." Diego sighed. "You know who you are looking for now … Well, you know more now." 

"Okay … but you owe me an explanation."

"Certainly." He huffed before he led Nathan away from the scene. After a few steps, he actually allowed Nathan to climb on his back just because he still seemed a bit woozy. Of course, some of the other cops - especially Beaman - send a few funny looks his way as they watched Diego with his nephew but he ignored him as he would always do. 

As they arrived at the mansion after a quick drive, Nathan was still a bit loopy. Diego helped his nephew back into the house and through the reception hall so that the boy would be able to lie down in the living room. Just as they approached, he could hear Vanya and Allison talking in the living room. 

"So, this Leonard guy … Where do you even know him from?" He heard Allison ask seemingly out of the blue as Nathan and he were making their way over to the archway leading into the living room. Usually, he wouldn't barge into a conversation between sisters - especially not when the topic was a guy - but right now, he just wanted Nathan to lie down and get comfortable for a moment. 

"He came to me for violin lessons."

"Isn’t he a little old for something like this?"

"It's a bit unusual, yes, but … I guess it's never too late to learn something new, right?" She clearly sounded a bit irritated by her sister’s question but neither sister got time to continue the topic as Nathan got between them.

"Oooooh!" Nathan cooed as they entered the living room and thus, in essence, interrupted the sisters in their conversation. "Auntie Vanya has a boyfriend!" 

His sisters looked at them over the backrest of the chaise lounge in surprise before Allison raised both her eyebrows impressively at the sight. He was sure that her eyebrows would vanish into her hairline if this would physically be possible right now. The look she gave Nathan, however, was clearly that of a disgruntled parent. "Shouldn't you be in school, young man?" 

Diego quietly led his nephew over to the couch he had slept on last night after dinner. They had spent a few hours just sitting around and chatting with Klaus telling them a few outlandish stories about his travels before Klaus and Nathan had eventually retreated to Klaus’ old bedroom for the night. "Come on, Buddy." He sighed and helped the little guy out of his shoes after Nathan sat down on the couch. "Now lie down a bit."

"Is he okay?" Vanya asked quietly, her conversation with Allison forgotten and her irritation with her sister replaced with concern for her nephew - who still looked a little green in the face.

"Just a little dizzy and spent. He used his powers a little too much, I think."

"Klaus is gonna rip your head off if he hears that you kidnapped him from his school." Allison grinned - clearly amused by the idea that Klaus would murder him. He couldn't blame her. Not after the pranks he and Klaus had pulled on Allison as children.

"I have to inform you that I did no such thing. I was out investigating a shooting at the Gimbel Brothers earlier with Patch when this little gremlin showed up out of the blue. He kidnapped himself, so to say." 

"School is boring" Nathan muttered quietly, looking already half asleep as Diego pulled a blanket over him and took a seat on the couch by his feet. "It's too easy and the other kids are dumb."

"You don't have any friends at school?" Allison slowly came over to them and sat down on the coffee table in front of Nathan, leaving Vanya behind on the chaise lounge. She gently brushed her fingers through his curls and Nathan all but melted into the touch.

"No" The little guy sighed and Diego was sure that, if he wouldn’t be half asleep by now, he wouldn't say what was coming out of his mouth next. Much like his father, Nathan seemed eager to put up walls and pretend that he was unbothered by certain things. Well, he had learned from the best. "The others are mean because I don't have a mommy."

"They are dumb." Diego agreed with a smile and pulled Nathan’s feet in his lap. "Don't worry about them. If you want me to, I beat them up for you." 

"Really?"

"You won’t beat up a bunch of eleven-year-olds, Diego." Vanya sighed and slowly came over to them as well. There was a smirk playing on her lips as she said it, though.

He breathed out a little chuckle. Yeah, well, some things never changed, he guessed and Nathan just woke his protective instincts. He would beat up anyone who would dare to hurt Nathan no matter in what way. "Why are you both here anyway?" He then turned to his sisters.

"Luther asked us to come here. He wants to talk about Mom." Vanya said quietly with a shrug.

"What about Mom?" 

"Well, we found the security footage of the night of Dad’s death," Allison explained. "Nathan was right in that Mom didn't try to help him. Luther thinks she didn't do anything because her software ist starting to malfunctioning. She should have helped him, by all means. So … We need to understand why she didn't do anything."

"Dad could’ve changed her programming - if what Nathan said is true and Dad killed himself."

"Yeah, that actually sounds like Dad, doesn’t it?" Allison sighed. "Anyway, you can imagine that Luther is very … agitated about this whole story."

Of course, he could imagine how Luther would feel about all of this. Well, the conversation that would soon come would certainly be unpleasant. Then again it would certainly be unpleasant too if Klaus would return to the house and find his child here and not at school. 

He wouldn't lie, Diego was quite impressed with his brother Klaus. He had gone through so much those past thirteen years and matured so quickly to take care of his son all by himself. It would have been much easier for Klaus to run away and leave Nathan in England to be raised in an orphanage or adopted by someone else. 

Maybe he would have even expected his brother to abandon his son to keep following his outlandish, wild lifestyle. A part of him felt ashamed that he had thought so little of his brother in this aspect. After all, Klaus had such a big heart, right? He was one of the most loving people Diego had always known. The good soul of the team. Even as children, Klaus had always made sure that his siblings were okay first. So often he had gotten into trouble with their father willingly to take the heat off of his siblings. And now, after so many years as a single dad with all this responsibility on his shoulders, Klaus had grown into a fierce protector - and certainly into a father Diego didn't want to fuck with.

He didn't get a chance to hide from his favorite brother, however, as only five minutes later, Klaus walked into the house announcing his presence with a loud: "Yoohoooo!" 

"Oh no," Nathan mumbled immediately. "Uncle Dee hide me! I’ll be in so much trouble for skipping school."

"Yeah, you know, you should have thought about that before you skipped school today, Gremlin."

"No fair! I helped you!" 

Allison cackled at her nephew’s distress even before Klaus walked into the room and stopped dead in his tracks only to roll his eyes. "Yeah, I guess I should have expected this." He sighed and walked over to his son to place a hand on his forehead. By some miracle, he didn't even sound angry - just maybe a little exasperated. "You’re not sick, are you?" 

"No, Daddy … just a bit dizzy from using my powers too much." Diego almost snorted at the way Nathan squinted at his dad and lowered his voice. He was playing his role well but he doubted that Klaus would actually fall for it. 

Klaus sighed again and sat down by Nathan’s head to gently pat it. "Hm serves you right for not listening to your poor old dad." 

"I think I have to agree with your poor old dad" Diego grinned.

"But I helped Uncle Diego today!"

"That he did." He shrugged. 

"Fine, okay." Klaus huffed and leaned his head back. "I can tell when I face a battle that's not worth fighting. Also, Five gave me something for you to check on but maybe you should sleep a little beforehand. You wanna go upstairs?"

Diego half expected his nephew to say no but, in the end, he gave a tired nod and made this very familiar grabby motion that Diego knew from Klaus during their childhood. "Piggyback?"

"I’m too weak and old for piggyback rides." Klaus grinned.

"I’m not" Diego rolled his eyes and got off of the couch again. Not one minute later, he was giving his nephew a ride upstairs. It was his job as his uncle, after all. It was quick work to discard the little gremlin on Klaus’ bed and tuck him in again. Nathan was out like a light the second his body hit the mattress and Diego left him with a small chuckle. For a moment he hovered in the door and watched the little man. He thought about Claire, suddenly realizing that he had never even cared to ask about her or meet her. He knew nothing about his niece. He had never cared to know anything about his niece. He needed to rectify that. 

As Diego returned to the living room, the discussion about Mom and the missing monocle was already in full swing as Luther had joined their siblings. He was surprised that Klaus didn't say anything regarding the monocle, then again, Klaus had always been exceptionally loyal. What followed was a rather heated discussion about whether or not Mom should be shut off because she had not helped their father - and Luther still didn't want to believe that their father might have actually killed himself. 

"Okay, girls, calm down" Klaus sighed just as Diego was ready to throw some punches. "Let's wait until Nate is feeling a little better, okay? And when he does, we talk to Mom. Maybe Nathan can find out more about why she didn't do anything. Then we can still discuss if we should shut her off or not. Until then, just stay put and calm the fuck down, okay?" 

They didn't know yet, that things would turn out quite differently for them that day.

**-End of Chapter 5-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your suggestions so far for the series! I can proudly proclaim, that I have finished the draft for the first one-shot for this series <3 It will be a bit angsty at times, I guess, but I hope you'll like it too when I upload it (which will probably be when I finished this fic)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't wake the baby.

Klaus was taking a bath when it happened. He found refuge and comfort in the old bathroom that was the closest to his old bedroom. Many hours of his young life in this hellhole of a house had he spent in this room, with the diffused sunlight filtering through the frosted glass of the window above the tub, filtering away the smell of weed during his teenage years. 

Taking a bath had always been the most luxurious of comforts that he had been able to enjoy here, the only place where no one dared to interrupt him. Sure, his father had quickly put a law into place that Klaus was forbidden from locking the bathroom door or closing any door at all besides the door to the toilet after Klaus’ first overdose at age fourteen. Still, he had had privacy in here. Sometimes, he remembered, Diego had been sitting outside the half-open door in the hallway and talked to him for however long it would take Klaus to calm down from whatever it was that had upset him so. This room with the eggshell-white tiles had been his ultimate refuge.

First, he wasn't sure if it was the music that came blaring out of his old trusty headphones but then, when the noise continued, he finally started to realize that it was indeed gunshots. He all but jumped out of the bathtub as the realization struck him. Without thinking about it, he discarded his walkman and headphones to the side where they landed clattering on the ground and probably destroying the aged device that he had smuggled into the academy at the age of fourteen after getting it from a thrift shop downtown. Quickly, he covered himself with a towel that he wrapped around his body and peeked outside the bathroom. 

He couldn't see anyone in the hallway and, for a moment, he wasn’t sure anymore that he had actually heard anything. Not even Ben was around to tell him what was happening. However, a second later, he heard more noise coming from downstairs. In the past, he had been part of missions often enough to recognize the sounds of a fight between his siblings and someone else going on. Back then, he had mostly kept out of sight and tried not to get harmed, right now, his heart dropped in his non-existent pants at the sound. 

Nathan.

His son was in his room and people were shooting up the place and fighting with his siblings.

It was pure instinct that made him run back to his bedroom to look for his sleeping son but when he arrived at the room, Nathan was nowhere to be seen. He felt his blood freeze in his veins and his breathing coming in short and quick. The world became louder around him as he stood in the open door to his room and stared at the empty, disheveled bed. He could hear them more clearly now, the ghosts, yelling to get his attention and it took all his effort to drown them out again as he squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his hands to his ears. His head hurt like a bitch.

All his willpower was needed to get his breathing back under control and when he opened his eyes again, the faces that had terrorized him all his life seemed to be gone again, hidden behind the veil. Of course, he would be able to banish them forever from this house but … that would mean to confront them and he didn't know if he would ever be able to do that. He took another deep breath, trying to steady himself in the moment. He needed to stay in control. He couldn't lose his head. He needed to stay focused - otherwise, he might accidentally unleash hell.

"Klaus!" He almost jumped at the sound of Ben’s voice as his brother materialized out of thin air beside him, a small screech slipping out.

"Where’s Nathan?" He gasped and pointed one shaking finger at the empty bed.

"Safe, don't worry," Ben replied quickly and would have grabbed Klaus’ shoulders if Klaus would have had the mind to make him corporal right now. He could probably tell that Klaus was slipping. "When those fuckers entered the house I woke him up and told him to hide."

"Where … where…"

"He’s safe," Ben said again, this time with more emphasis. "But the others could need a bit of help." The wicked little grin on Ben’s face told him all he needed to know about his plans. "Are you up to giving them a show, Number Four?" 

※※※※※※※

He was dazed by the outbreak of the conflict. It all happened too quickly for him to register what the fuck was happening at first. One second he was minding his own fucking business walking the corridor of their childhood bedrooms to go look after Nathan, and suddenly these two psychos in the creepy kids’ masks were shooting at him. He was fighting with everything he had and without any idea what was going on at all. At one point, he was just cowering behind the sofa, shielding his head, and hoping for the best. 

There were only two attackers but dangerous they were all the same - especially since they had surprised them. Diego’s thoughts were not even in the game, they were with Klaus who was upstairs in the bathtub, just feet away from where those fuckers first attacked him, they were with Nathan who had been asleep just steps apart from two crazed assassins in creepy masks, they were with Vanya who was still roaming this house and had no way of protecting herself. 

If anything would happen to Nathan, Klaus, or Vanya … He would never be able to look at himself in the mirror ever again. Working with Allison as a team was easy enough when he found his sister going toe to toe with one of the two assholes in the kitchen. Despite being separated for years, it was just like when they were children again. They didn't need words to communicate. He knew what she was going to do and she knew where he would move. Those fuckers might be partners, but they were not working as a team, and at least in that department, Luther, Allison, and he had the upper hand. 

They followed the woman back into the entrance hall after Diego had thrown a knife at her that struck her in the leg and watched, in awe, how Luther was still fighting the other guy. His shirt was hanging in ribbons from his massive chest by now. Just as Diego wanted to come to his brother’s aid, however, the whole house began to shake. 

"What the hell is that?" Allison shrieked as she almost toppled over. Only a moment later, the beast was screeching like it had the last time when they were sixteen. He would recognize the sound anywhere. Diego knew that it was Ben even before he saw him standing in the gallery, an apparition of blue light. 

Knowing that Ben was around watching over them like a very cynical, deadpan, and sarcastic guardian angel was still new and exciting but Diego barely had any time to understand that Ben was there fighting those two assholes with them as the house was still shaking around them. That was certainly not the Horror, though, who was responsible for the trembling of the building. He watched how one tentacle of the Horror took hold of the woman. She hacked at the beast with ferocity - without success, of course. Her end came swift and brutal and would require their mother to mop the blood off the floor and walls soon.

Ben, vanished back into thin air after that, leaving Luther’s opponent pausing in shock. Luther would have had an easy time striking, but his brother seemed dazed after the last attack of the big guy. His shirt had been torn to shreds by the fight and revealed now what Luther had been hiding from his siblings the entire time under his ridiculous overcoat. His massive upper body was covered in coarse dark hair and unnatural thick looking muscles. Not the body of a human man. He wondered if Luther was even registering what had happened to him as he still tried to get his bearing while the ground beneath their feet was shaking even more violently now.

"Klaus!" Allison suddenly shrieked and as Diego followed her outstretched arm, he almost didn't believe his eyes. He saw his brother, emerging from the corridor upstairs clothed in just a towel around his hips. It wasn’t so much his lack of clothing that was a surprise, but the way his hands and eyes were glowing with a bright blue light like. Before anyone could say anything he watched how his brother glanced up at the chandelier only for it to come crashing down on Luther’s opponent who couldn't jump out of the way in time. 

They all watched how the man was crushed by the chandelier, heard the cracking of bones, and saw the blood pool underneath his heavy figure. Only then the shaking of the house stopped just as Klaus stopped glowing blue.

"Christ on a cracker!" Diego breathed out. 

Klaus, seemingly completely unperturbed by the current events, gave them an exaggerated little bow before he quickly grabbed his towel that was slipping dangerously. "Thank you, thank you, Ladies and Gentleman. I’m here all week." 

Allison was still wiping blood off of her face when Klaus returned to them a few minutes later with Nathan in tow. The little boy looked terrified and Klaus had finally put on some clothes at least. There were tear streaks that had dried on Nathan’s cheeks and Diego felt the need to wrap the little guy in a blanket and pull him in his arms. He did nothing like this but Klaus did, as he slumped down on the sofa in the living room where the evidence of the fight was still prevalent. Nathan immediately climbed into his father’s lap. 

It was easier now to imagine Klaus going through life with Nathan by his side. His brother had always been a very tactile person. He remembered Klaus coming into his room at night to seek refuge and maybe a cuddle after an especially bad nightmare. Diego, in turn, was the only sibling that had met Klaus’ needs in this regard because he himself was a tactile person. To Diego, actions came easier than words. It was easy now to imagine how Klaus had cuddled with his son as they had been alone in some foreign country, traveling the world and growing ever closer doing it. 

There was this inherent trust that Nathan had for his father that was obvious now. Nathan might have just as big of a mouth as Klaus had on him but he was still just a little boy and right now he was a scared little boy who needed his father to be his safe haven. 

"Are those my sweatpants?" Diego asked as he pointed at Klaus’ legs. It was easier to not talk about the real issue right away - or about the way Luther looked. After all, they all were still in shock after what happened and probably needed a moment of respite from it. 

"And your shirt, yes." Klaus huffed. "What? I don't have anything here and I didn't want to wear the same clothes as yesterday again and I wanted to be comfy."

"And why is Nate wearing one of Five’s uniforms?" He looked cute in the uniform, even if it was a little big on him. The similarities between Nathan and his father now undeniable. So much so, in fact, that Diego felt like he was being thrown back in time.

"There was an _accident_ ," Klaus explained gently. Allison chuckled softly and no one said another word about it. Nathan, however, turned a bright red and whacked his father’s shoulder. Other than this, he remained silent. 

"Where’s Luther?" Klaus then asked calmly as he looked around as if it might be possible that the big guy was hiding behind a sofa cushion. The horror about how their brother looked was still lingering in the back of his mind. He had stayed away for years from this house but last time he had seen Luther, Number One had not looked like this. 

"He … uhm … He wanted to go upstairs to get dressed." Vanya explained quietly. She had a nasty cut on her forehead but other than that she seemed okay. Thinking that she could have been killed - or that Nathan could have been killed if Ben had not been there and told him to hide - still made his blood freeze in his veins. He felt a twinge of anger towards his sister for not hiding and getting out of the way in a situation such as this. At least she was okay. "Did you know?" Vanya then turned to look at Allison and their sister shook his head to breathe out a barely audible ‘No’.

They fell into silence for a moment before the sound of heavy footfalls alarmed him to their brother’s presence. Luther looked incredibly uncomfortable as he stepped into the room, pressing a bag of frozen peas to the side of his head, the shirt that had been ruined now replaced. He didn't meet anyone’s eyes but before anyone could address him, he spoke up himself as if he wanted to rip off a bandaid. "Dad sent me on a mission, a few years ago." He said. "There was a chemical weapon … the mission didn't go well, there was an accident. I almost died."

"And then he did what?" Diego hissed. "What did he do to you?"

"He had this serum … it was an experiment. He … He saved my life." He ended, his voice all serious and stern but Diego could tell that he was trying to convince himself more than his siblings right now. For the longest moment, Diego had no idea how to feel about this revelation. He felt sorry for his brother in a way. Luther had given his entire life to Reginald and his cause and that was how Reginald had decided to repay him - making him into a monster. 

Diego bit down on what was waiting to slip out. Right now, his brother didn't deserve his antagonistic comments, as much as he wouldn't usually care about that shit. Luther seemed completely unsure of what to do next and the awkwardness was so thick that it could almost be cut with a knife. 

Allison was finally the person that came to Luther’s rescue. "Okay … I’m … Uhm … I’m gonna cut to the chase here, okay?" She said as she turned around in her chair to look at Klaus and Nathan. "What was that Klaus?"

"I need you to be more specific, Darling."

"She means your powers, Dad," Nathan mumbled quietly into Klaus’ neck. He could only assume that Klaus had brought his son up to speed after he had found him wherever Nathan had been hiding during the attack. 

"Oh" Klaus then huffed. "Right … Yeah … So … remember how Dad always said I was his biggest disappointment and regret because I was wasting my potential and all that? Yeah … so turned out the old man was correct and didn't just say this shit to get me to do the dishes." 

"Bro" Diego sighed. "Listen … Buddy … I need you to tell us a bit more, okay?"

"Well … I mean, what do you want to hear?"

"So … you have telekinetic powers now too?" Luther asked, his voice a few octaves higher than usual. He slowly took a seat on one of the unoccupied couches, apparently happy that the attention was no longer on him right now. 

"Yes" Klaus nodded but before he could say anything else, Nathan freed himself a little from the blanket to turn around and look at his family with huge eyes. Apparently, his fear and shock were forgotten for now.

"He can also levitate!" He exclaimed gleefully and clapped his hands. "Dad, show them!"

"Maybe not right now, Boss."

"And the ghosts?" Diego asked carefully. The ghosts had always been a sore topic for Klaus but with Diego, he had always been open about it - at least when they had been alone in the past. Their siblings, however, had never believed anything Klaus said, always disregarded him and his fear. "I mean … Have you gotten better at that whole shebang?"

"Of course" Klaus huffed and lazily waved his hands as if his whole life had not been a fucking nightmare because of the ghosts. "It's my day job, so to say. I’m a ghostbuster or something. I can … also conjure them now, banish them too." They all knew what Luther was going to say even before he opened his mouth to blurt out:

"You need to conjure dad, Klaus! He can tell us everything we need to know!" 

"I’d rather not."

"Why?"

"Why?" Klaus sighed and got up after Nathan scrambled off of him only so that he could pace around. "Why, Luther? Look what he did to you and you still ask why? Because I am not very fond of the idea of conjuring the man who locked me in a mausoleum when I was Nathan’s age! Who tortured and abused me and drove me to the brink of insanity until I started taking drugs and drinking hard liquor before I even had my first fucking kiss because I didn't know how to cope with my powers and because he never helped me with them and instead only made it worse for me! So, no, I think I’d rather not see his face and hear his voice ever again, Luther! We don't need him to tell us what happened to him anyway! Nathan already told us and when he feels better, he can see if he can find out more about this whole mess but I’m not gonna conjure Dad because it would help you in your quest of being his one loyal soldier, Number One! Especially not after what he did to you!" 

For a moment there was silence lingering over the room before Vanya actually spoke up. "I … Uhm, I agree with Klaus on that one." 

"But what about the apocalypse?" Luther blurted out.

"Dad was not like Five" Diego sighed. "Five only knows about the apocalypse because he traveled there, Nathan knows about it because of his visions. But Dad was normal - or as normal as could be in his case. He was just an old man with a creepy monocle and a funny mustache. How would he have known about the apocalypse?"

"But why would he have killed himself?" Luther frowned. "That just doesn’t make any sense! He knew something! If he actually did it himself then just because he wanted us all in one place!" 

"We are talking in circles here, boys." Allison groaned. "It's no use to talk about the same things and discuss the same questions over and over and over again. You know what would be good? If Five was here. Five could actually tell us something of use right now. By the way, Klaus, where is he?" 

"I don't know" Klaus sighed and slumped his shoulders. "He took me to that company that produces prosthetics and wanted to know something about a glass eyeball from a guy named Grant - or something. Turns out, the eyeball was not yet produced, so, jokes on Five! After that, he went off to do something very important, probably. He left me the eyeball, though, so that Nathan could take a look at it because apparently, our brother didn't listen to me when I talked about Nathan’s powers the other day." 

"Sounds like Five," Diego grunted. "Where’s the eye now?"

"Upstairs" Klaus muttered. "Are you feeling up to it, Boss?"

The little guy nodded quickly, probably happy to be helpful again to his family. It would distract him from the things that had happened earlier certainly. Ten minutes later, Klaus came back to them and sat down beside his son and handed him a white napkin that had been wrapped delicately around the glass eyeball. Diego recognized the napkin from being from Griddy’s Doughnuts right away after he too had taken a handful. Mom had always said that a man should always have a napkin or tissues with him just in case, after all. As he saw the napkin, the puzzle pieces started snapping into place for him without warning.

Those masked assholes had been at the Gimbel Brothers shooting up the place and according to the ballistics they were probably the ones who had killed the tow-truck driver that had been at Griddy’s before the shooting there. The same tow-truck driver who had been there with a young boy that couldn't be found now and was a complete mystery.

"Fuck me sideways" Diego gasped. 

"Language, Man!" Klaus groaned.

"Yeah, what the fuck, Uncle Diego?"

"You look like you have a stroke." Allison budded in.

"No, I just … I … it was Five!"

"What was Five?" Vanya asked quietly. Sometimes it was easy to forget that she was even there.

"Listen! That shooting at Griddy’s Doughnuts that I went to investigate yesterday, right? The waitress said there was a little boy there before. It was Five! He must’ve been at the Gimbel Brothers too! Those masked assholes out there were after Five!" 

"And how do you know that?" Luther groaned. He could taste the potential for another fight in the air. He was used to his brother critiquing and pulling everything he would say apart. That he shared with Klaus, after all.

"The napkin!"

"The napkin?" Klaus echoed as he looked at the eye and the napkin in confusion.

"He was at Griddy’s!"

"He could've gone there after the shooting." Vanya offered quietly once more but her eyes betrayed her. Obviously, she was on Diego’s side here. 

"Unlikely," Diego grunted.

"It's not important" Luther sighed. "Those masked assholes are dead anyway so whatever they wanted from Five, I guess he’s safe now."

"Don't you want to know why two psychos in children's masks wanted to kill our brother?"

"He can tell us when he comes back." Klaus butted in with a groan. It was clear that he was tired after the stunt he had just done. "Right now, the eye is more important. If the world turns to dust in a few days, it won’t be important who’s after Five, right? We need to find out about the apocalypse first." 

"Yeah, so if you freaks would shut up, I could actually do my thing, right?" Nathan quipped up. Diego was almost relieved to hear that his nephew had found his tongue again. Klaus sat down on the armrest of the sofa and patted his son’s shoulder with a small smirk before Nathan unwrapped the glass eyeball carefully and took it in his hand. It was again like it was in Reggie’s room yesterday. The boy didn't flinch or make any kind of show like in the movies. He just sat there with the eye in his hand and his eyes focussed on it. Only once did he pull a bit of a face and said "Eww" before he wrapped the eye up again and looked at Luther. 

"Gross, Uncle Lu!" He said and Klaus barked out a laugh. "You ripped this eye out of that dude’s head!"

"What?" Luther asked clearly dumbfounded. 

"Who’s head?" Allison chimed in right away.

"I think his name is Harold" Nathan shrugged. "Or Gerald? No. Harold. Harold Jenkins. He wears cords. Dad always said you can't trust people who wear cords."

Diego snorted quietly. 

"Anyway … He came to the house. He seemed angry. He was with Auntie Vanya. I don't know why. I couldn't see it clearly. But he’s the cause of the apocalypse, I’m sure." 

"He was with me?" Vanya echoed. "I don't even know a guy with this name."

"Well, apparently, you are gonna meet someone named Harold in the next couple of days though," Allison replied calmly. "Which is good because now we have a heads up, right?" The sisters shared a smile at that. He could only imagine that this little interaction made Vanya feel like she was part of the team for once.

"What a day" Klaus sighed and ruffled Nathan’s curls. "Someone needs to clean up the bodies out there."

**-End of Chapter 6-**


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drunk as a skunk.

"Hey, snuggle bug." Klaus approached his son quietly as he found Nathan sitting curled up on the sofa near the fireplace in the living room. The others couldn't properly tell but Klaus saw that his son was still quite shaken up after everything that had happened earlier in the day. Of course, he would be shaken up by it. The little guy was not used to shit like this happening, after all. Until now, he had lived a perfectly normal life! Well, as normal as could be while traveling around with a single dad who could commune with the dead and was also an ex-superhero and ex-junkie. 

"Hey, Dad" He answered quietly and Klaus didn't waste a second to sit down next to him and pull him close only for Nathan to struggle a little - like a cat that didn't want to get bathed. "Daaaaad!"

"What?"

"I’m too old for this!"

"Are you now? Frankly, I am offended." He laughed and ruffled his curls. They were still wet from the bath he had taken earlier while Mom had made them dinner. He was no longer wearing Five’s uniform either - instead, he was wearing one of Five’s pajamas. They still needed to find out why she didn't help Reggie the night of his death. Maybe they just could ask Pogo and the Chimp might even give them a proper answer for once in his life. Finally, Nathan seethed his pointless struggle and slumped against him. "That was scary today, wasn’t it?"

"I’m not a baby anymore, Dad!" He groaned.

"Of course, not." He huffed. "I remember how scared I was during our first mission when people suddenly started shooting at us. Despite all the drills we’ve gone through at that point, it was still … a fucking nightmare."

"Fucking language, Dad."

"Sorry." He laughed. "I mean … It's different then it's in the movies when it actually happens to you, right?"

"Uncle Ben and you killed them, right?" Nathan finally asked as the grandfather clock chimed from the corner.

"Yeah" He sighed even though he really wanted to lie instead. Then again, what good would a lie do Nathan in this situation? Would it spare Nathan from the truth that his father and uncle had killed someone? "We’re safe now." 

"Will there be more?" Nathan asked quietly, the worry clear in his voice as he directed it at Klaus. 

It was tempting to lie yet again. "I don't know, Bug. But if there are, we deal with them. That's what the Umbrella Academy does best, dealing with bad guys." Nathan got very quiet at this and snuggled up a little closer. He wasn’t looking at Klaus but he could still tell what was going on in that head of his. "Were you scared that I would get hurt?" 

Nathan nodded silently.

"Don't be."

"But what if next time you get shot? You should have been hiding, Dad."

"Hey … If anything ever happens to me, Uncle Diego will be there for you, right? Uncle Luther, Uncle Five, Uncle Ben, Auntie Vanya, and Auntie Allison too. You will never be alone, you hear me?"

"I don't care about them, though. I don't want you to get hurt." 

It nearly broke his heart to realize that his son had honestly been afraid to lose him today. It made sense, of course. He had lost his mother already even though he had never known her. To imagine that he might lose his dad too had to be terrifying. He pressed a kiss to the crown of Nathan’s head at that. "I won't get hurt. I will be careful. You do know that I would never leave you, right?"

"Right." 

"We need to talk about you skipping school and going against my rules and being a bad influence on your poor uncle Diego, though." Klaus gently nudged his son in the side but Nathan just snuggled closer and retaliated by pinching his arm. He misses the days when Nathan was still so little that he could carry him everywhere. Soon, he would not be able to carry him at all. "He’s too much of a goody-two-shoes, Nathie. He is not equipped with the skill to withstand you - don't use that against him." 

"Okay…" Nathan huffed before he turned those big puppy eyes at him that he certainly had used on Diego before already. Well, he had learned from the best - how could Klaus scrutinize him for using the skills he had taught his son? "I don't want to go to school tomorrow though…"

Klaus gave a deep sigh. He knew when he was facing a battle not worth fighting. "Okay. You know … I agree that it doesn’t make any sense in the current situation. But, listen, Goblin, you will go back to school when all this nonsense is over, okay?" 

"I don't know Dad … Why can't I be homeschooled like you were? We could … move into the academy, be with everyone else. Wouldn't that be nice?" 

"Nathie"

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to stay here." The way Nathan stared at him told him that he wouldn't get away with it so easily. Not without a proper explanation and maybe he owed him one too. After all, this was his family and his home, his legacy just as much as it was Klaus’, right? "Being here in this house with all these memories … is not easy for me."

"Well … You never talk about it."

"For good reason" He drove a hand through his hair at that. "I don't have many fond memories of this place growing up, Nathan."

"But that was because of your dad."

"Sure but … he was not the only problem. He pitted us against each other, sure. He made life a living hell at times. I can look back at my childhood now and find it different than I did back when I ran away. I see now that my father was not just some boogeyman or monster in my closet." Sometimes, Klaus thought, it would be easier if his view of the world would still be as limited as it had been with seventeen. "He was not evil, you see? The things he did … he did for a greater good and I guess, the greater good justifies torturing your kids. I now understand that my father meant well and that his going about it was maybe a little misguided at times. Knowing that only makes it harder to be here, though, because I keep imagining a world in which Sir Reginald Hargreeves would have raised us differently. Even though I understand it all a little better now … the memories still hurt, you know? My childhood in this house … the traumas I experienced here, was what drove me into drug addiction, what drove me to almost waste my entire life to end up overdosing in some dirty alleyway and dying without my family even knowing. If it hadn't been for you … that’s exactly what would have happened to me and the thought scares me." 

"You told me once that the worst fear is the fear of the unknown and that to overcome your fears, sometimes you need to look it in the eyes," Nathan said and Klaus cringed a little at that. Not because it wouldn't be true but because hearing those words being parroted back at him in this house was like being thrown back into the cold mausoleum in the graveyard just a few blocks away. He remembered saying these things to Nathan on a warm day in August a couple of years ago - Nathan’s first day in elementary school. His little boy had been so afraid of meeting all those new children and after he had gone through the first few days, he had beamed with excitement. He just wished his son would be getting along with the other kids at his new school as he had back then at the school in Rome.

"You know … that was actually my father’s conviction." He gave in. "Exposure therapy. Only he … He used force to make me confront my fears. He locked me in the mausoleum to face my fears and I could never do it. You can never be forced to confront your fears - I learned that. You have to choose it yourself. That's the first step."

"You did though."

"Yeah" Klaus huffed. "I chose to confront it when I had you, Gremlin."

※※※※※※※

Nathan was already in bed when he heard the front door open and someone stumbling inside. Luther and Diego had left after dinner to go looking for Five, worried that something might have happened to him. Klaus had stayed behind downstairs with Allison but his sister had fallen asleep half an hour ago on the fainting couch, and Vanya had left after dinner to go back to her apartment. Talking with Nathan about his childhood and Reggie had provoked thought in him. Maybe his son was right and it was time to confront yet another fear of his. He had the means to do so now and the support he would need from his siblings - the inner strength to go through with it too. 

The thought was forgotten, however, when he saw Luther stumble into the room with Five in his arms. First, he thought that Five might be injured but then he saw the torso of a mannequin Five was clutching and smelled the distinct stench of whiskey wafting among his unconscious brother. 

"Is he-"

"Drunk as a skunk!" Diego grinned cheerfully and Klaus barked out a laugh that woke up Allison. 

"Jesus Christ!" She exclaimed and got up from the fainting couch so that Luther could put Five down and pry the mannequin torso from his hands. "What happened to him?"

"We found him in the library like this" Luther frowned and sat the mannequin torso on one of the chairs nearby. "He had scribbled equations all over the walls!"

"Let the man live a little!" Klaus cackled as Diego slumped down next to him. "He was all on his own for over forty years in the apocalypse." 

"If I wouldn't know he’s such a dickhead, I would say he looks almost adorable." Diego huffed.

"Don't worry, he will be just as unpleasant as always when he wakes up," Luther replied with a groan. "What a day."

"You should all have a drink" Klaus laughed. "You deserve it." 

"We have to find out what's going on with him," Luther muttered as he sat down heavily on one of the chairs. He looked ten years older and a little grey in the face after everything that had happened. Klaus could only guess that he was still in shock that his siblings now all knew about the state his body was in.

"We will" Klaus replied calmly. "But not tonight, okay? It was a long stressful day for all of us. I mean, this house was attacked and all that jazz. All we need to do now is sleep and tomorrow Five can tell us what's going on." 

"Someone has to stay with him." Allison pointed at Five. "So that he won’t run off as soon as he wakes up."

"I’ll do it." Klaus volunteered with a huff. Ben was with Nathan and that was good enough for him right now. As long as Ben was with Nathan, his boy was safe. Evidently. After all, when their house had been attacked today, Ben’s first instinct was not to alarm Klaus but to yell Nathan awake and show him a safe hiding spot so that those killers would not get their hands on the boy. Of course, there had been many times in the past when Ben had proved to Klaus that he would protect Nathan to the best of his abilities no matter what the situation was.

"You sure, Bro?" 

"Yeah, sure. I’m used to being up all night. Nathan had croup when he was like two years old and kept me up all night." 

Allison made a grimace of understanding while their brothers remained oblivious to the plights of being a parent. She turned to the door with a yawn and Klaus was sure that she would fall right back asleep as soon as she would be lying in bed. "Okay then, good night. Wake me if you need shut-eye." Shortly after her, Luther also left the room with a yawn leaving only Five, Diego, and Klaus behind. 

"You good?" Diego muttered quietly after a while as he nudged his shoulder. It was the first time today that they had time to talk alone, without their siblings or Nathan around. Well, Five was around but he was sleeping like a baby right now. Talking to Diego had always been different for Klaus than talking to Ben or anyone else. Diego seemed always able to tell what he was thinking. He didn't judge him, no matter how dark or screwed up his thoughts were. Still, even after thirteen years of radio silence between them, Diego was a safe haven for him. 

"Aside from the fact that my son got involved in all this mess despite me specifically not wanting him to get involved?" Diego at least looked a little guilty. "Sure." 

"I’m sorry." Diego sighed and nudged his shoulder with his own again like he used to do when they were kids and had a fight. He remembered how Diego would sometimes get so frustrated with everything that he would lash out even at Klaus only to find him later, sit down next to him, nudge his shoulder and say _‘I’m sorry’_. Diego had never been good with words. "I mean … for bringing him here yesterday, I guess. But I would like to inform you that it was not my fault that he showed up today at the Gimbel Brothers."

"I know." Klaus laughed. "I know … Nathan … He has his own mind, right? He does his own thing, always has. He’s stubborn and really does what he wants. You never stood a chance."

"Mhm … yeah, I wonder where he got that from." They shared a little laugh at that just like in the old times. "But seriously, man … you did a great job with him. I mean, he’s fearless! That little nugget came waltzing into the department store not giving a single fuck ready to look around a crime scene and actually helping the police. He’s bright and clever and I believe he can hold his own in the world already."

"He’s still just a child" He huffed even though he couldn't quite hide the fact that he was proud to hear that out of Diego’s mouth. How could he not be proud? "He’s not like we were at his age. I mean … looking back at everything, we had to grow up too quickly and I never wanted that for him. With thirteen, we were actively fighting crime and getting into dangerous situations all the time. We were never really allowed to be actual children - except when Dad wasn't around to be offended by us being kids. And Nathie … He likes to pretend that he’s all grown up already. He is fascinated with the Umbrella Academy and all those old stories or even the comics. He wants to be a superhero too without knowing how much it cost us. I guess that's normal for an eleven-year-old kid. Still, he’s only a baby - my baby - and today scared the crap out of him." 

"Of course, it did." Diego sighed and patted his shoulder. "I still remember our first mission, you know? I was fucking terrified after it."

"You mean the robbery at the Capital West Bank when we came out to the public?" Diego nodded. "You didn't look terrified then. Real men throw knives, right?" 

"Maybe I didn't look the part but I sure as hell was afraid! I mean, it was our first proper mission and those guys had guns. Real guns. I was so afraid that they would shoot me or one of you guys. When we left and returned home, I was puking my guts out later that night when I understood that we could all have been killed that day." 

"I didn't know that," Klaus replied quietly. Diego had never talked to him about the fears he had had concerning their missions. And after Ben had died … Well, the mission where Ben had died had been their last mission as a team anyway. Ben’s death had all given them a sense of their own mortality.

"Don't worry about it though." Diego then returned his attention back to their previous topic. "About Nathan. He will get through it. That little guy is tough as nails - like his dad."

"I just worry that he will be traumatized by this shit, you know? I only ever wanted him to have a semi-normal childhood, for him to be happy and one day look back at his childhood with fond memories. I wanted to give him what we never had and now, he got thrown into a shootout at this house only one day after he first met the family! It's … madness."

"I think you succeeded, though" Diego mumbled and put an arm around him. Diego had always known what to say or what to do to make Klaus feel at least a little better. "You gave him the best childhood he could’ve hoped for. Today was a minor setback. And I think that Nathan just wants to be a part of this team, you know? He has powers and he knows how to control them. He wants to be helpful. Let him."

"He asked me to move back into the house with him," Klaus confessed quietly. "Into the academy. He asked me to be homeschooled here like we were."

"So, what do you think?"

"I don't know." Klaus shrugged. "It would be nice to not pay rent anymore and have an actual bed." He then laughed. Sleeping on this sofa, as comfortable as it might be, was not doing anything for his back and he was not getting any younger. "And there’s room enough here as well. I want him to have other children around, though."

"Then … move back in and let him still go to his normal school? I guess if those other kids find out that he is living at the Umbrella Academy they will cease making fun of him." Diego winked. "I mean I could always beat them up too, of course." 

"You are too sweet." Klaus rolled his eyes. He allowed silence to settle over them for a moment or two in which he just hung after his thoughts. His mind was still like a thunderstorm at times, even without the drugs. Today, he had almost lost control, almost allowed the ghosts that were haunting him and this house to take over and if that would have happened - No, better not waste any thought about it.

"Hey … Penny for your thoughts?" Diego asked as they sat there staring at their unconscious, drunk brother. He wasn’t sure at first if he wanted to speak about it or even offer the idea to Diego. He was afraid of saying it out loud because that would make it more real and perhaps he would not be able to take it back then. Still, he took a deep breath as he looked at Diego.

"I think … I think I want to conjure Reggie."

※※※※※※※

The sun was shining into the living room of the academy as Klaus jolted awake and nearly bumped heads with Diego. It took him a moment to realize that he had fallen asleep sitting next to his brother on the sofa. He didn't get time to fully grasp the fact that Diego was still asleep and drooling on his shoulder, though, as he noticed the figure sitting opposite of them with a cup of steaming hot coffee in their hands.

Number Five looked ready to cut a bitch.

"I wish I had a camera." Five groaned. His voice sounded like he had swallowed a grater and was unwilling to spit it back out. Ah, he knew the face that Number Five was making now. He had seen it often in the dirty mirrors of even dirtier motel bathrooms after a night of sin and bad decisions. "You guys are just too cute. I’m glad to see nothing changed and you are still acting like siamese twins."

"It's called conjoined twins," Klaus mumbled quietly with a smirk pulling at his lips. He wasn’t willing to move too much and thus maybe wake up Diego. His brother looked like he needed his beauty sleep right now. "You look like shit."

"Thank you." Five replied with a groan. "I have a headache for days."

"Well, the best remedy for a hangover is heroin, so…" If Five would glare even harder at him, Klaus was sure that his eyes would pop out. "Why did you get wasted anyway?"

"Because this eye doesn’t get us anywhere. I surveilled Lance and found out that he was selling prosthetics on the black market. He has a list where he keeps track of the black market items. The eye was not on it, though. So, another dead end, hooray. Why is there blood on the walls in the reception hall? And since when does our dear dead father have bullet holes in his face? Oh, and is there a particular reason why the chandelier is no longer attached to the ceiling out there?" As Five pointed at their father's portrait, Klaus almost laughed.

"Oh, you know … long story short: There were two very angry assassins that came to the house yesterday and tried to kill us all. A woman and a man in creepy masks."

"Hazel and Cha-Cha." Five sighed.

"You know them?" He wasn’t even surprised that Five would know anyone who would use such stupid fucking codenames. Hazel and Cha-Cha. Of fucking course. 

"My former employer has sent them."

"I think I need you to elaborate."

"Later." He huffed but still seemed a bit too unbothered by the fact that two killers he knew had come to this house to shoot at his siblings. "I take it they ran off?"

"No, they’re dead."

Now he had Five’s attention as his brother lowered his cup of coffee and stared at him rather dumbfounded. "Now I need you to elaborate."

Klaus didn't waste any time to tell Five what happened during his absence from the house. He told him how he and Ben had disposed of the two killers and how they later got rid of the bodies too. Well, Luther and Diego had seen to that and Klaus had not asked questions. After that, Five stared at him almost in awe - an expression that he would have never thought possible to see on Five’s face. 

"Hazel and Cha-Cha were the best of the best … after me, of course." Of course, Klaus thought with a scoff. "And you just killed them?" 

"Yeah." Klaus sighed. "I had taken a nice relaxing bath and they interrupted me. Also, they woke Nathan up from his nap. I can't tolerate such behavior. You’ll understand when you have children one day. Oh, but the eye was not a complete dead end. Nathan found out the name of the guy the eye belongs to. His name is apparently Harold Jenkins and Vanya will meet him in the next couple of days because, also apparently, he will come to the house with her right before the apocalypse - before Luther rips out his eye." 

"I didn't tell you about it - that Luther had the eye in his hand, I mean."

"Nathan saw it when he touched the eye." Klaus shrugged. 

"But he didn't see what actually happens?"

"No."

"We should find out more about this Harold Jenkins guy then."

"He might have a criminal file" Diego suddenly mumbled still half asleep. He hadn't even realized that Diego had woken up - then again his brother had always been a light sleeper and Klaus and Five had talked quite a bit for the better part of fifteen minutes. "I can get us in." 

**-End of Chapter 7-**


	8. Chapter 8

He hadn't been to the precinct for a while - mainly because he tried to stay away as far as possible from Eudora’s investigations and thus evade being arrested by her yet again. He might joke about it that she had a secret kink about seeing him in handcuffs but that would only get him tased and he didn't have time for shit like this right now. Not with the world ending and all this fucking mess that was going on around him these days. 

As he stepped into the precinct, he was immediately embraced by the hustle and bustle of the station - of people running around fetching paperwork or sauntering to the nearest coffee machine, and of people talking to each other, some quiet and calm, others loud and agitated. He breathed in the stale air of the downtown precinct on a warm day at the end of March before he took another step forward. 

Getting past the front desk was never a challenge for him, so he just fist-bumped Rodrigo who was on shift today and walked past him. Of course, he could almost smell the comment that the other man had on his tongue and then decided not to make because he was not being paid enough. 

"Wow" Nathan suddenly chimed up as they walked into the bullpen. Sometimes the little guy would not shut up for a second and when he didn't say anything for a few minutes, it was easy to forget that he was actually there. "You are good friends with all those people here?"

"Sure." He grinned. Maybe he shouldn't be lying to his nephew like this. Then again, he got along with most of the cops around the precinct. He might not actually be part of the force, but he would run into those people while doing his vigilante work - and, of course, he was a frequent guest of the holding cells in the back.

He hadn't really wanted to take Nathan with him today to get that file he needed. It wasn’t quite his choice. However, Klaus had asked him to take Nathan with him just in case of another attack on the house. After the story Five had told them about his time in the apocalypse and then after he had been rescued by what he called the Commission, they had agreed that there was simply no telling whether or not they were safe at the house, whether or not they would get attacked again by someone else. Five had told them right away that he believed that the Commission would soon send others their way to get done what Hazel and Cha-Cha couldn't do, as soon as they would realize that Hazel and Cha-Cha were actually dead. He could understand Klaus’ desire to have Nathan stay away from the house in case something would happen again. Still, he just hoped that his nephew wouldn't throw a wrench in his plans just by him being here with him.

"HARGREEVES!"

"That lady doesn't seem to like you though, Uncle Dee." Nathan sniggered. 

"Oh, she does" Diego grinned as a way of reply. "She just doesn't like to admit it."

Sure enough, Patch had spotted him right away the moment he had entered the bullpen. She rose from her seat to walk over to him and Nathan in the way only a woman on a mission would do. The expression on her face alone told him that she was having a bad day and, more importantly, completely fed up with everything going on. One misstep and he would end up tased again. He really could do without. 

"Eudora!" He greeted her with his sunniest smile - even though he knew that she was immune to his charms. Klaus always said that this was only because Diego had as much charm as a bowling ball. But what did Klaus know? "How’s all that paperwork coming along?" 

"It's a real page-turner." She snapped as she came to a halt in front of Nathan and him, her eyes never leaving his face, though. "I’ve got two guys in children’s masks, rare bullet casings, a random fingerprint from a 1930s cold case, and I just learned that the tow truck driver from the doughnut shop didn't have any family. The kid’s apparently not his kid - which is bad because he’s our only possible witness and he’s a complete mystery." He noticed the way Nathan looked at him and hoped that his nephew would keep his mouth shut. He didn't like it that he had to lie to Eudora but in this case, it was better to lie to her than to tell her everything about Five and the Commission. "So, why are you here exactly? I think I told you that I would lock you up, last time you came here uninvited to mess with one of my cases."

"I’m not here because of one of your cases."

"Oh?" She raised both her eyebrows dramatically - and, frankly, he felt a little insulted. "You’re not? Well, then I should mark the day on the calendar. It appears Hell has frozen over. Why are you here then? To show your nephew around? Is today the bring your kid to work day? Or is he becoming your new Robin, Batman?"

Nathan looked at him with big eyes and a huge smile growing on his face.

"You will not become my sidekick." Diego clarified right away as he looked at the boy before turning back to Eudora. "I’m here because I need a favor." 

"Oh, wow." She sighed rolling her pretty brown eyes. "What a surprise that one is. Diego Hargreeves wanting a favor from the police. What can I not help you with, Diego?"

"Wow, she’s in a mood." Nathan murmured beside him. "What have you done to her, Uncle Dee?"

"I need a file."

"Are you kidding me?" Eudora groaned. "I mean, do you want to go to the holding cells right away or do you want to dig that hole a little deeper first?"

"Patch" He sighed. Sometimes this woman was infuriating! He couldn't understand why she would always be so snappy with him. Sure, maybe he had been a dick in the past - then again she had known what she was getting into with him! It was not like he was an enigma-wrapped-in-a-riddle kind of guy. He had anger issues. Everyone knew that. "It's important. I wouldn't ask you if it wouldn't be important. I don't even know if that guy has a file."

"What's this all about?" Now she sounded interested. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, crossing her arms and cocking her head slightly to the side. 

"It's complicated."

"Well, in that case, I’d like you to leave now unless you want to be cuffed again."

"Okay." Diego sighed and dragged a hand over his face. He knew that there was no point in arguing with Eudora right now. She would not give him anything as long as he would not give her anything. Quid pro quo, Agent Starling, and all this bullshit. Eudora was almost as stubborn as he was. When they had been an item he had found that charming, now it was downright annoying sometimes. "The guy I’m looking for could potentially be very dangerous. I cannot tell you why, though. You have to trust me on this. If I am right and if I can find him before he does the thing he might do, millions of lives will be saved."

She looked at him as if she was ready to throw him in the deepest, darkest hole that she would be able to find but then her eyes flitted back to Nathan. She had seen him work his magic and she knew about his family and their powers. Maybe there was still hope. "Is this an Umbrella Academy thing?" She asked at last. "Has he- Did you see anything?" She then turned directly to Nathan. His nephew glanced at him first but then he nodded briefly. "What was it?"

"We can't tell you." Diego cut in before Nathan would give anything away. He didn't want to get her involved - not when there was the potential that more people like Hazel and Cha-Cha were out there looking for them.

"Why?"

However, before Diego could say anything, Nathan spoke up again. "Because … if I’m right and I tell you, you might do something that throws everything for a loop and if that happens we no longer have an advantage." Both adults were stunned into silence for a good few seconds but it was Eudora who recovered first. 

"Tell me the name."

※※※※※※※

Allowing Nathan to follow Diego around today was not exactly his idea of good parenting but it was the lesser of two evils for the day. He thought about his time on the streets. Being back home seemed to have this effect on him. He thought how he had walked around London without a home and no one who cared about him, how he sold himself on street corners, and in dirty motels. A few people had recognized him as The Séance, the teen idol that had graced magazine covers during his most formative teenage years. Allison and he had always been in the limelight, the most charismatic of the six superhero children. The attention whores. The whore - in his case.

"You look like you are being an idiot right now" The voice of his brother Five chimed up and ripped him from his thoughts. He was surprised that he was even here in the first place. He would have almost expected him to wander off again to do some important shit like he always did without telling any of them about it. When all of this was over, they would need to sit down and have a stern conversation about the importance of proper communication. 

"Oh, what else is new?" Klaus huffed quietly as he returned his attention to the portrait on the wall. They were sixteen and Ben was not yet dead. He had been so cocky and full of himself, already spiraling out of control, already falling and falling and falling with no one there to catch him. A few days after that portrait had been painted, he had had the biggest fight in history with Diego and ran away for a week. He hardly remembered those days in between and it was probably for the best that he didn't. 

"What was it like?" Five then said out of the blue. He must be bored to actually be talking to Klaus. "Traveling with a baby around?"

"Oh" Klaus laughed quietly. "Exhausting, for the most part. I felt like a koala mom." He then grinned. It might have been exhausting but he missed those days. Just he and his baby boy on the road - and Ben, of course.

"No, I mean … You know what I mean."

"Mhm," He hummed quietly and gave a lazy shrug. Of course, he knew what Five meant. He just liked to pretend it wasn’t so. "I had Ben" He then said. "To talk some sense into me. That helped. I was … lonely - I mean … not lonely. I had Nathie and Ben. I just felt … alone. I had no one alive to talk to and help me, after all. No matter where I went, I was a stranger to people. I traveled with the wind, it almost feels like. As soon as I got to know the locals, this urge would grab me and made me pack up everything and move on to the next place. In a way, I am grateful for the time and experience. Nathan and I got to experience so much of the world, see so much and learn so much. But I just wished that I had managed to put my roots down somewhere - for the little guy."

"How did you manage? Moneywise?"

"It was a struggle, of course. I took odd jobs here and there - learned a lot of useful skills. I mean, I learned how to fix boilers!" He laughed. "And I can do a bit of carpentry too. Useful shit. I worked as a tiler for a summer in Greece. Wonderful memories. I made great friends there. There was this one guy, Thomas, who knew who I was. He was a fan of Diego, though - Can you believe it? I was flabbergasted! But apparently, Diego-fans exist out there! He had posters and shit. He had a friend here in town who would send him clips of Diego’s boxing fights and we would watch them together. But … Yeah, sometimes it was rough. There were quite a few times when I had to go hungry and when I was the most desperate I thought about going to the nearest club and- Well … I never did, though. I was too afraid that something might happen to me and that Nathan would be alone then. Weird what having a kid does to you, huh? I never cared much about my safety before. I didn't care what people would do to me when I was passed out somewhere. The drugs dulled the pain anyway. I didn't even care if I was killed or shit. But after I got clean and when Nathan was handed to me like that … Suddenly, everything just changed."

"Wow," Five scoffed. "Never thought to see the day when my brother Klaus would become an actual adult."

"Yeah, me neither." He then laughed. Of course, he was curious to find out why Five was actually talking to him right now because he would bet his bottom dollar that it was not just a general interest in him because he was his brother. 

"So … your powers…" 

Ah, there we go, Klaus thought. 

"Wild, huh?" He grinned. "I didn't know either. I might have caused a few minor earthquakes … when I first learned to control my telekinesis. I can levitate too - but this is reserved strictly for parties." They fell back into a comfortable silence for a moment before Klaus took the chance to talk again. Sometimes it was hard to actually have a conversation with Five because he used to teleport away when things became uncomfortable or when he deemed a conversation pointless. Growing up, that had been the most annoying thing about Five. "So you became a killer" He then turned to Five with a small grin.

"I didn't enjoy it." Five shrugged as if this would be explanation enough for anyone - or as if this would make it any better that he had been a killer in the first place. "It was just my job and I was good at it. But I never enjoyed it. I did what I had to do to come back to my family."

"Hey, I get it," Klaus replied. Only in their family, someone would confess to being a cold-blooded killer and someone else would say ‘I get it’. "Maybe I wouldn't have a few years ago. But listen, if I would end up somewhere without my lil’ nugget, and someone would tell me I’d have to murder a bunch of people to get back to him, I would not even require a gun." 

"It's good to see that you are still just as messed up as I am."

Klaus laughed. "I would drink to that."

"So, do you think they will find something about this Harold Jenkins guy?" Five then asked with a sigh. It was clear that he didn't have much hope in that regard. He probably already regretted that he was not going out there and tried to find something out by himself. Then again, Five laying low was probably the better option right now. At least if what he said was true and the Commission was really sending more people after them now. "Diego and Allison, I mean."

"Hopefully. I mean ... Even if he doesn’t have a criminal record, maybe Allison can find something about him in the library. At least a mention of his birth. Hey … I have a question."

"Oh no."

"You said … you found us. After the apocalypse. Did you find all of us? I mean-"

"I didn't find Nathan." Five interrupted before he could say it and he was thankful for it. Even imagining that Five would have found his little boy between the rubble of the academy was driving him completely insane. Thinking about your own child’s mortality was the worst thing for any parent. "You were there, though. I found you last … a bit farther away from the group. Knowing what we know now, I wonder why you were there in the first place. I can only imagine that, in that timeline, you had some reason to return to the academy on apocalypse day."

"I thought … I would be relieved to hear that you didn't find him in the rubble." Klaus muttered quietly as he tried not to imagine any of that. He had to remind himself that this was not their timeline. They would not end up like this. "But I’m not. It's … It's worse to imagine that he died alone. Not knowing what happened to me or what happens to the world. I hope Ben was with him when it happened." 

Five surprised him as he patted his shoulder. The old man had a heart after all. They didn't get much time to enjoy their brotherly bonding moment, however, as they heard the front door opening and the clicking of high heels on the marble of the entrance hall. "Boys?" Allison’s voice echoed through the mansion shortly after her arrival. "I found something!" 

They exchanged one look before Five blinked away and left Klaus to actually put the leg-work in - as per usual. He met Allison and Five in the living room with Luther approaching with quick steps from upstairs as well. Allison was waving a printed newspaper article around that Five snatched away just as Luther and Klaus arrived at the scene.

"Harold Jenkins was arrested for the murder of his own father at the age of thirteen. According to what the newspaper said, he killed his father with a hammer after being abused by him for years. He got thirteen years in prison. So, he would have gotten out two years ago." 

There was a photo attached to the article of a young boy of thirteen years, dark hair, dark eyes, and looking completely unremarkable. A young boy like a million others. The face struck something in Klaus, though. A distant memory he couldn't quite put his hand on. "Hey, wait a minute. I think I’ve seen the guy before."

"What?" Five sharply threw his way as if Klaus had just insulted Dolores. 

"Yeah! Remember that one time we came back from that mission in the museum and there was a parade and shit?"

"Oh, you mean the kid that wanted to join the academy and harassed Allison!" Luther frowned.

"Yes! I think that's him!"

"So, we have a guy who killed his father with a hammer as a child and who is probably wildly obsessed with us. Well, doesn't that sound just awesome? It would be good to have a photo of him how he looks now, though. I mean … he could be anyone. look at that face. There’s nothing remarkable about him that would make him stand out."

"Those are always the most dangerous people." Allison sighed and pointed at Five. "Look at him."

"Love you too, Sis." 

"Well, if he killed someone, Diego will probably find out more about the bastard," Luther said as he took another long look at the photo in the newspaper article. 

※※※※※※※

It had taken him every bit of his persuasive skills to make Eudora allow him to copy the first page from the criminal file she had found for this Harold Jenkins person. It held only his personal details, the crime he had committed that sent him to prison, and a photo of the man how he looked two years ago when he had been released from prison. It was enough though to know that it was their guy. Nathan took only one look at the photo before he claimed that this was the man he had seen in his vision with Auntie Vanya.

With those news in tow, Diego and Nathan made their way home - excited to share the information that they had gathered. Diego, however, couldn't help but question just how his sister Vanya, his ordinary sister, would know a man like Harold Jenkins - a man who killed his own father. Not that Diego wouldn't have fantasized about killing Reggie one or two times before. Hell, there had been plenty of times when he had thought about going rogue on his father and sticking his body with his favorite knives. Then again, Luther would probably not have been a fan of the idea. 

"Do you think Dad will allow me to be there when you take on this Harold-guy?" Nathan asked and looked at him with those big green eyes that he so clearly had of his dad. He really wondered what Nathan’s mother had looked like now. 

"Have you met your dad?" Diego laughed. "Of course, not!"

"Urgh, he’s such a buzzkill!" Nathan groaned and threw himself back in his seat like an annoyed three-year-old toddler. 

Diego, on the other hand, would have never thought that he would ever hear something like this being said about his brother Klaus. Klaus who was always the life of the party, who was a hurricane personified. There was never a dull moment around Number Four, never silence. "He’s just worried." He tried to appease the little guy as he gently ruffles his hair.

"He’s always worried." Nathan pouted in response. 

"Maybe. But that’s just because he loves you so much. I never saw him behave as he does now in the past. I never saw him being so protective of anyone or anything. He was always the little brother, even though we are all the same age. But he was still kinda our little brother and he loved being protected by everyone. He played his role well. To see him now, so many years later, having a kid of his own and being so protective and fierce - it's really weird." 

"I just wished he would let me do more stuff, you know? He’s always hovering and making sure I’m okay as if I could get hurt if he doesn’t watch me 24/7. I mean … I’m not a baby anymore, Uncle Diego! I can take care of myself!"

"Well, you are still a baby though." He was glad that looks couldn't in fact kill because otherwise, he would be dead right now the way Nathan glared at him. "I’m just saying, Nugget, you are only eleven years old."

"So?" The little guy exclaimed. "You guys were fighting crime at my age!"

"We were thirteen, actually." Diego huffed. "And we were raised differently than you were. Our dad trained us from the moment we expressed our powers. Our entire childhood was training and learning how to behave in dangerous situations. Believe me when I tell you that no child at eleven or thirteen or even sixteen should know how to behave and fight during an armed robbery or a terrorist attack. Sure, we learned useful skills but we had to sacrifice our childhood in return and we lost much of our sense of wonder and naivete too early in our lives. If you’d ask me, I’d say it wasn't worth it. But if you want to, when all of this is over, I can start showing you some things. If you’d like to pick up martial arts, I’m your guy and I think if you can prove to your dad that you can actually defend yourself in hairy situations, he might allow you on the team in due time." 

"You would really show me how to fight?"

"Sure" Diego shrugged. "And I hope that you can do better than your dad. Klaus was awful when it came to combat training."

"Really?" The little boy asked. "A few years ago someone broke into our apartment and Daddy kicked this guy’s ass, though!" 

"Really?" He couldn't help but feel a bit of pride wash through him at that statement. Klaus had never excelled in physical training or combat. He had always been too weak to throw serious punches and rather ducked out of the way than training his defense. 

"Yeah! It was awesome!" Nathan grinned from ear to ear. "He beat the shit out of the guy with an umbrella!"

Diego could only assume, of course, that Klaus’ rather violent reaction to that burglar had been due to Nathan being there. Every parent would fly into a rage if they would think that their kid might be in danger. Well, except for Sir Reginald Hargreeves, of course, who would rather outright throw the danger at his children instead. 

As they reached the house, he parked his trusty old car in the alley next to the building and led Nathan inside through one of the numerous backdoors that led into the house. He could already hear voices coming from the living room as they entered the kitchen where Grace was currently making cookies as it looked like. "Oh, Diego dear!" She greeted him with a warm smile. "Nathan, darling. You’re back already. Your siblings are waiting for you! Do you want anything to eat?"

"Maybe later, Mom" He smiled and pressed a kiss to her cheek as he walked past her. He noticed how she ruffled Nathan’s curls and quickly handed the little guy a candy bar from the shelf. As children, they had never been allowed to dive into the secret candy shelf without their father’s strict permission - which they had never gotten anyway.

Well, things were different now that their good old dad was dead and they free from his oppressive rules. 

"Harold Jenkins!" Diego announced as he walked into the living room where he found his siblings gathered around - minus Vanya. She was probably at work or something - not that there was anything she could help them with anyway. "Born October 1st, 1989" His siblings gasped. "Not at twelve - though. Convicted for killing his father at age thirteen with a hammer. He got thirteen years and was let go-"

"Two years ago," Allison said waving a sheet of paper in his direction.

"Right." He huffed. "Also, we’ve got a photo!"

Immediately, Five ripped the copied page from the criminal record out of his hand and frowned. "Yeah, looking just as unremarkable here as he did as a child."

Klaus was the next to take the page. "Although I must say, I get some Norman Bates vibes from him. Those cold dead eyes and shit."

As Allison finally got her well-manicured fingers on the page, she took another gasp. " _Holy Shit!_ " She breathed out and gained a collective ‘What’ from her brothers in response. "That’s Vanya’s new boyfriend!" 

**-End of Chapter 8-**


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diego and Klaus have not learned a thing from the stomach flu of '99  
> Also, everything that can go wrong does go wrong

"Are you sure that you want to do that?" Owlish green eyes stared up at him in silent worry. Seeing worry for him in his son’s eyes was the last thing Klaus Hargreeves would have wanted. No parent wanted to see that their kid was worried about them in any way. As a parent, it was his job and responsibility to worry about Nathan - not the other way around. Nathan should just grow up like a normal boy, busy his mind with the problems a normal boy would have and not be involved in all of this superhero crap that was going on inside the academy. The little guy should never think that he needed to be worried about him.

Yet, Nathan had just lived through a horrifying ordeal in which his family had been shot at and in which his father could have easily been killed. All of that was true, and even though Nathan always made sure to look tough and resilient, he could tell that he was torn by what happened. Last night, the little man had tossed and turned in his sleep, Ben had told him, while Klaus had been downstairs watching over Five with Diego. 

"Have I ever been sure about anything I ever did?" Klaus huffed and ruffled Nathan’s curls gently - mostly because he knew that Nathan hated it when his father would mess up his hair. "I’m gonna do it." 

"So, does that mean we are moving in?" The worry in Nathan’s big green eyes quickly vanished and made room for a wide, toothy grin.

"One step at a time, Nugget. I’m most certainly not moving anywhere until we have not prevented the end of the world, okay?" He chuckled as they walked into the living room where his siblings were still going on about Harold Jenkins, apparently. 

They didn't have an address and yet his siblings were hell-bent on finding this man without involving Vanya first. In Klaus’ eyes, it would be a much better idea to call their sister here and ask her about the guy she was apparently dating now - and who had, also apparently, changed his name after prison. That was, of course, understandable. It just wasn’t a good look for any future employer if they would look up his name and find out he had killed his father. Allison had told them that Vanya had called him Leonard when Allison had met them in the streets near Vanya’s apartment. There were thousands of Leonard's in this city, though.

"We should call Vanya and tell her about this," Diego said as he was shoving a sandwich in his face. At least one of his siblings started to show an inkling of common sense. "She might be in danger." 

"I agree." Allison sighed.

As Nathan and Klaus walked into the room, all eyes fell upon them and there was this old sensation of awkwardness creeping back up on him that had known in his childhood. His gut reaction was to do something outlandishly stupid to provoke outrage or annoyance, to be loud and obnoxious just like he used to be back in the day. Klaus had always craved his siblings’ attention in a way, yet he had always hated being the center of attention and having all eyes on himself. It made him feel small and weird, as if he had two heads or his dick out or something. His siblings were all gathered in the center of the large room near the fireplace where Five’s portrait was still looking down on them with one condescendingly raised eyebrow. They were occupying every surface they could without being too close together. Just like old times. Diego sat on the armrest of the sofa Allison had plastered herself on, Luther had taken up one of the armchairs, Ben was sitting on the coffee table in the middle of the group as a ghostly blue apparition and Five had taken over the chaise lounge. It was a skill only the academy kids possessed to spread out over such a limited area like this. 

Allison immediately patted the seat next to her as she took a glance at Nathan and greeted the little guy with a warm smile and Nathan hurried over to sit down next to her. He could only imagine that having Nathan here with them made Allison miss Claire even more. When all of this was over and done, Klaus would help her to see her little girl again. After all, he wanted to meet his niece as well, right?

Slowly, he shimmied over to where Diego was sitting, and immediately Diego held his sandwich out for him. Just like in the old times. As he took a bite out of it, Allison pulled a grimace and muttered something about ‘germs’ and them ‘not having learned a thing from the stomach flu of 1999’.

"Hey … guys…" Klaus then addressed the group. "I’m … Before we go and hunt down Vanya’s new boyfriend … I wanted to try something."

"Oh?" Luther asked but he didn't sound as condescending as he would have sounded a few years ago when Klaus had still only been a useless junkie with silly ideas. It was fascinating how differently his siblings seemed to perceive him now because he was a dad. Almost he was a little offended. Underneath his responsibilities as a father was still the same old annoying, outrageous, loud, silly Klaus who had fallen down the stairs in Grace’s heels. Still, Luther looked at him now like he would look at Reginald - with actual respect. 

"Dad wants to summon grandpa!" Nathan blurted out with a huge grin spreading over his little face that made his dimples pop out more. Those news really gained the duo attention - especially from Luther who got up from his chair. Well, he was almost glad to see the outrage creeping back onto Luther’s face as he was staring at him. Now they were back on familiar grounds. 

"You said that you can’t!"

"Well, no ." Klaus huffed. "At first, I said I couldn't because I didn't want you guys to know that I’m sober, and then I simply didn't want to. Listen … I can't even promise you that it’ll work. It's not like calling someone over the phone, right? It doesn't always work. Maybe he has moved on and I can’t reach him. I just want to try so he can tell us what happened to him and why mom’s programming was changed since Pogo continues to play dumb." 

He could tell that Luther wanted to criticize him for only coming now to this decision but, in the end, his brother snapped his mouth shut and just gave a short nod instead. They had tried talking to Pogo again a little earlier, Klaus and Luther, with limited success. It was obvious that the Chimp knew something but wasn't willing to tell them and since Allison still refused to use her stupid powers, they were not getting anywhere with Pogo. The poor bastard was just too loyal - even now that Reginald was dead he was still guarding his secrets valiantly.

"Okay…" Luther finally sighed. "What do you need?"

※※※※※※※ 

He had never seen his brother like this. The room was bathed in gloomy half-light after they had pulled the heavy velvet curtains in front of the huge windows so that the only light came through the skylight above them. Klaus was sitting in the middle of the room on a few pillows Indian style. He was barefoot like he usually was when he was inside the house - as kids, Klaus had told him once that being barefoot would strengthen his connection with the world beyond the veil -, the backs of his hands were resting on his knees, his tattooed palms pointing towards the ceiling, his eyes closed. 

No one dared to say something as they sat around the living room and watched Klaus like he was some exotic circus animal. His brother didn't make a single sound, just sat there, and focussed on whatever he was doing. He could see that Luther was getting impatient and already opened his mouth to say something but Nathan immediately said "Shht!" and shut the large man up even before he could make a stupid comment.

Apparently, Nathan had seen Klaus like this before. Maybe, Diego thought, he had been allowed to accompany Klaus during his work as a - as he called it - ghostbuster? After that, as if right on cue, things finally started to happen. It was subtle at first. It started with a faint blue hue around his fingertips that slowly but surely started to spread from his fingertips over his fingers to his palms and from there it crept up his wrists and his arms until soon, his entire body was surrounded by that faint, ghostly blue light.

"Fuck!" Five was the first to notice that their brother was no longer sitting on the pillows but actually levitating a few inches above them. 

Everyone was literally at the edge of their seat and, for once, Diego wished that Vanya would be here too right now. They should have waited for her. Nathan grinned from one ear to the other in excitement as Diego looked at him. As Klaus opened his eyes a moment later, they too were glowing in a bright cobalt blue and before anyone could say anything, another figure materialized in the room right in front of Klaus. No … not materialized. It was as if the person had always been standing there but only now they could see them. The veil had been lifted. 

In front of Klaus stood, without a doubt, Sir Reginald Hargreeves - Monocle and all.

"What in God’s name took you so long?" Reginald grunted and for a moment there, it seemed as if Reginald couldn't even see them - or ignored them deliberately as his focus rested solely on Klaus. "I expected my son who can conjure the dead to have brought me forth days ago!" 

"Oh … yeah, well you see … I was beside myself with grief." Klaus said with a faux sob still hovering in the air as if it was nothing. 

"Dad?" Luther quietly said as he slowly got up from his seat.

"Ah, you are all here, good." Reginald hummed.

"We should have waited for Vanya" Allison chimed in and echoed the thoughts Diego had had earlier.

"No, it is better that Number Seven is not here," Reginald said. He didn't even look like a ghost. He looked as he had while alive, almost like he never died at all. "I see you brought your son. Good. I hoped you would. I take it that he actually helped you figure out what is going on with the apocalypse. I always knew that he would be much less of a disappointment than you are, Number Four."

"You know that I can close the connection anytime I want, right?" Klaus threatened with a huff. "I would appreciate it though if you could hurry up a little and tell us who killed you - and why. Was it this Harold-guy? Why was Mom’s programming changed so that she wouldn't help you? And who did it? Was it Pogo?"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Diego uttered quickly as he tried to get a word in before his father would actually answer Klaus’ questions. "So you knew about all this? The apocalypse? Nathan? "

"I knew that I had to bring you all back together, one way or another." Reginald droned on, apparently overhearing the other question that hung in the air. How the hell did he know about Nathan? "The fate of the world depended on it."

"What- What are you saying?" Luther asked quietly as if he was afraid Reginald would vanish if he would raise his voice just a sliver. Sure, Diego thought, he knew that they needed to hurry the conversation along since having their father here with them was drawing energy from Klaus rapidly but … was he the only one in shock about how laissez-faire Reginald’s attitude to all of this was? How was it that his siblings weren’t shocked?

"The only way to get you all back together was something momentous." He dragged his index fingers delicately across his neck to drive home the point. 

"Wait" Luther whispered. "You … killed yourself?" 

"Oh, Christ!" Klaus sighed. "You could never do things the easy way, could you? You couldn't have picked up a phone?"

"Would you have answered?"

"So … what?" Five spat. "You changed Mom’s programming so that she wouldn't intervene?"

"I wanted it to look like murder so that you might investigate together and the wish to be a team would be reborn." 

"Of course!" Klaus chuckled. 

"How do you know about the apocalypse?" Five bristled. "I only know about it because I traveled there but you are no time traveler and you can't see in the future either!" 

"How do you know about Nathan?" Klaus asked just as sharply. 

"We don't have much time," Reginald said. Already he was flickering at the edges. "What I have to tell you is of great importance. I kept you all in the dark about your sister."

"Me?" Allison asked but Klaus shook his head. 

"He talks about Vanya." He then whispered.

"Oh … Oh no…" Nathan suddenly chimed up. "She has powers, doesn’t she? She’s the apocalypse! That's why I saw her arrive with this asshat at the house in my vision! It's not him, it's her!"

"He is just the detonator." Five muttered quietly.

"You have to lock her up. There is a cell in the basement. Your sister is dangerous, uncontrollable-" 

"Guys?"

Vanya. None of them could do anything before Vanya entered the room and let out a gasp at the sight before her. More importantly, though, was the person she had allowed to accompany her; beside Vanya stood a young man with dark hair - the same young man whose photo was attached to the copy of the criminal file that Diego had weaseled out of Eudora. "D-Dad?"

※※※※※※※

Conjuring someone who had already moved on into the afterlife was always a strain but right now, keeping Reggie in this world and all the other ghosts hidden behind the veil took too much out of him. He started to realize that the connection was fading as his father told them about the cell in the basement and, the moment Vanya barged in on them, it severed completely. A part of him felt relieved as it did. He slumped back onto the ground, his son at his side right that instance. 

"You’re bleeding," Nathan muttered with worry.

"I know" Klaus muttered and wiped the blood from his nose. "I know. Don’t worry, Nugget. I’m fine."

"What's going on here?" Vanya chimed up again, her face pale and her eyes wide. There was no telling how much she had heard but it was probably not good that she had heard anything at all.

"Family meeting!" Allison quipped back quickly, her voice raised by a few octaves as she tried to mask her panic with a sweet Hollywood smile. She was probably just as nervous after the news that they had just received from their father as the rest of them. 

In Klaus head’ everything was spinning out of control. There was a cell in the basement. A cell. He could tell by the way Luther stared at Vanya that he would not hesitate to fulfill his father’s wishes and lock her up. His stomach was turning. The mausoleum was creeping back in on him. He could feel the cold, wet air inside ghosting over his skin. He could smell the moldy old stones surrounding him. He could hear the incessant whispers of the dead around him. 

Fuck! Get a grip, Klaus! Now is not the time for a fucking panic attack!

"Oh, and of course no one thought about calling me." Vanya drawled, the annoyance and hurt clear on her face as she looked at her siblings now. 

She had changed. The way she was holding herself, the way she was looking at them - she was changed. In just under two days she had seemingly become a different person. He could hear the hurt of being left out again after they had come together as a proper family, bleed out of her voice. Slowly, he got to his feet. His siblings were not equipped to handle the situation. He could see that Diego already had a knife in his hand, his eyes trained on the man at Vanya’s side. The man with the who smiled at them as if he didn't know what was going on. It seemed a miracle that Five had not yet jumped him.

Speaking of Five … Where was Five?

"It's my fault" He approached his sister carefully after he slowly got up from his cushions on the ground. Above them the expensive Tiffany lamps were moving as if a storm was brewing in this very room - for once, this was not his doing. The others didn't seem to notice, though. "I wanted to conjure Dad and I didn't know if I would be able to later, you know? Kinda have to be in the right mood and all that. We should have called you." He clasped her hands with a smile and gave his best effort of making puppy eyes at her. "I’m sorry?"

She smiled at him at that and the lamps stopped moving. "It's … okay" She then murmured. "Did he say anything about his death?"

"Uhm … yes but maybe we should discuss this later … in privacy. Who’s your friend?"

Harold Jenkins smiled and extended his hand to him and Klaus took it upon himself to shake it. He noticed, though, how the man stared at him in a way as if he was trying to analyze him. He was fucking creepy, the way he stared at him.

"Hi! I’m Nathan!" His son suddenly got between them and shook Harold’s other hand while Klaus wanted his son a million miles away from this man.

"Leonard." The man said, surprised by the presence of the little guy for a second.

"Is he your boyfriend, Auntie Vanya?" Nathan then grinned before he took Vanya’s hands and pulled her away from Leonard and Klaus. Sly bastard. Klaus noticed too late that Nathan was directing her over to where Luther was now standing. He briefly noticed that Diego had come over to him and Leonard as well, a tight scowl in place that could easily be mistaken for the face of an overly protective brother.

"I just came because I wanted to invite you all to my concert in three days." Vanya looked a little shy as she said it but he could still hear the pride in her voice. "I finally managed to get first chair." 

Luther suddenly smiled widely at her and opened his arms for her - a silent invitation for a hug. "That's awesome!" The big guy said. "Of course, we’ll come!" It took Klaus too long to realize what his brother was trying to do and when he got it, Vanya was already hugging him.

"Luther stop it!" Diego snapped. At least he was not the only one realizing what was happening. Before Diego could do anything, however, Luther was already squeezing their sister and Vanya was starting to panic. Leonard, just stood there, watching the scene with an eerie grin on his face.

"Luther!" Allison shrieked as she too realized what was happening and tried pulling his arms away from Vanya with no success.

"You’re hurting me!" Vanya managed to get out in a wheeze but Luther only squeezed tighter. He was suddenly like an anaconda that was unwilling to let go of its prey. 

Everything was just chaos as Diego jumped on Luther’s back and tried to get him to let go of their sister and everything happened so quickly that Klaus had barely any time to realize what was going on or how he could help his sister. His thoughts were suddenly laser-focused on his son instead. The house started to vibrate the more distressed Vanya became. Diego was hitting Luther’s back with tight fists. Allison was pulling at Luther’s arms. He could smell the danger in the air, his heart was thumping like a sledgehammer in his chest.

A loud bang made them all startle, blood splattered across the side of Klaus’ face and Harold Jenkins fell face-first to the ground. 

"LEONARD!" The shriek that tore from Vanya’s throat sounded almost otherworldly as a blast of pure energy shot out of her, throwing her siblings and Nathan across the room. Klaus was thrown back against one of the columns and fell to the floor. His entire body was agony, the world was spinning as he opened his eyes and tried making sense of the situation. He could see Five lying passed out near the door, the rifle he had used on Harold still in his grasp. Luther had been thrown into the bar together with Diego, both groaning in pain and Allison had ended up close to the fireplace.

"Nathan" He muttered as he dizzily tried getting back to his feet. Vanya was standing in the middle of the room, staring at her hands in horror, her eyes devoid of any color all of a sudden. "Nathan!" 

"He’s here!" Ben suddenly chimed up. "He’s okay!" Nathan was lying behind one of the sofas that had been turned over by the blast. The living room was completely turned upside down by the blast of energy and right now his sister just stood there, trembling from head to toe, in shock of what she had done. Klaus, deep down, could tell that it would only get worse from here as Vanya’s eyes locked onto the dead body of Harold Jenkins again.

"Vanya" Klaus whispered as he slowly approached her, his hands raised and his palms towards her as if he was approaching a dangerous animal. "Vanya you need to calm down."

"He killed Leonard!" Vanya suddenly shrieked and the sound was reverberating from the windows around them. He was sure that they would break at the sound. "He tried to kill me!"

"No … No … Vanya … Let me explain…"

He knew that it was futile and he also knew that the only one who would have a real chance against his sister without killing her would be him. At least as long as Allison still refused to use her fucking power!

"You’re all against me! You’ve always been against me!" 

"No, Vanya, we love you!"

"Shut up!" She screeched again and this time one of the windows exploded and sent a hailstorm of glass shards down on them. He noticed out of the corner of his eye how Diego was slowly pulling Luther to his feet while Allison carefully managed to get up too. Vanya, however, noticed the movement as well and the house began to shake and tremble in fear of her wrath.

"Ben!" Klaus then called out, making his brother corporal without even looking at him even though he barely had the energy to do it right now. "Get Nathan out! All of you: Out!"

Ben didn't argue. He could see him scoop up Nathan and run out of the hall even as Nathan yelled for him to drop him. He heard Allison run out as well and he could hear the scuffle as Luther all but dragged Diego with him. Naturally, Number Two put up a fight. 

"Klaus! Fuck! Klaus, come on we have to get out before everything collapses!" Diego yelled but Luther was stronger and clever enough not to argue with Klaus right now, not after he had attacked their sister. "Klaus!" 

But Klaus didn't listen to him. His eyes were focused solely on Vanya now who stared at him in silent hatred. He didn't doubt that years of neglect and abuse were slowly bubbling to the surface now and that he was just as good a target for her fury as anyone in this family. His heart was beating so fast that he was certain it would break his ribs. "Vanya" He tried again, softer than before. "Vanya … let me help you. I know it's scary. You didn't know you could do things like this. None of us knew. It's scary, right? I can help you." 

"You are just as bad as the others!" The wave of energy that was lashing out against him took him completely off-guard but this time he would fight back and Vanya knew this too.

※※※※※※※

They barely had time to get out of the house as the first pieces of debris were falling around them. Luther was dragging him out mercilessly even as he was yelling out for his brother who remained inside the house. No matter how big of a fight Diego put up, Luther was still stronger. The moment they stumbled onto the sidewalk, he saw how Ben was flickering and then fading out of existence entirely. It was only thanks to Allison that Nathan didn't storm back inside as she quickly caught the little boy and wrapped her arms around him to hold him back as he was screaming bloody murder. 

It all happened too fast and none of them got the chance to storm back in and help Klaus. Just as they had arrived outside and as Five, who was hanging limply over Luther’s shoulder, gave the first groan and sign of consciousness, they could hear the roaring of the destruction their sister was causing upon their home. It sounded like thunder rolling across the sky. People that were mindlessly walking the streets were screaming in panic and took off running - and then it was over. As quickly as it had started, it was over. 

The house stopped shaking, the ground stopped vibrating and silence fell upon the Umbrella Academy once more. The silence, however, suddenly seemed even more deafening than the noise of the house falling apart piece by piece. 

Nathan was the first to wake from his stupor. He managed to free himself from Allison and shot past them to run back into the house. At that, Diego managed to untangle himself from Luther’s grasp as well and ran after Nathan, knowing that his siblings would follow them inside as well. His mind and heart were racing. He only thought about Klaus and in how much danger his brother was right now - and yet, if Nathan would get hurt in any way, he would never forgive himself. 

"Daddy!" Nathan yelled as he was running through the house with Diego right at his heels. What he saw as he barged through the archway to the living room almost knocked the air out of him. The room was covered in debris. Where the ceiling used to be was only a gaping hole left. Huge chunks of concrete had come raining down on the living room and buried it underneath it. There was no sign of Vanya or Klaus. He felt his heart stop at the realization that both his siblings were buried underneath a blanket of concrete.

"Daddy!" Nathan screeched again and clambered into the room, climbing on top of the debris and finally starting to pull at the stones, trying to find his father. It was heartbreaking - but that didn't keep Diego from doing the same thing. He started digging with his bare hands, the stone cutting open his flesh as he did. Soon, Luther and Allison were there and helping them.

Nathan was in hysterics by the time Mom and Pogo arrived at the scene. It was their Mom who pulled Nathan away from all this just as Five stumbled into the room as well and watched with horror how his siblings were desperately trying to dig their siblings out. 

"Klaus!" He screamed even though his voice was hoarse already and the dust was filling his lungs. "Vanya!" He just needed a sound from them - a tiny sound to know where they were! He needed to hear something!

"I register a heat signature." Mom suddenly chimed in and pointed towards the center of the debris-filled room. Diego and Luther both immediately climbed the mountain of dirt and stones and broken furniture to get closer to the spot she was pointing at - ignoring the thought that Vanya and Klaus might be right underneath their feet. They were fueled by sheer panic for their two missing siblings as they started digging again, desperate to find Vanya and Klaus. Five zapped in front of them, still dizzy on his feet but started digging with them regardless of his own injuries. He had no idea how long they kept digging for as Diego finally found a tuft of dark hair. 

"Klaus!" He yelled again but didn't get a response from his brother. Luther was at his side in an instant and helped him to clear away the debris with ease - his super-strength really coming in handy there. There he was: their brother, slumped in on himself, their sister in his arms as Klaus had apparently tried to protect her from the falling debris. He didn't even know how to feel about Vanya right now. She had attacked them. She had lashed out at them - Well, but could he blame her for that? After what Luther and Five had done to her?

"Dad!" Nathan called out again but as Diego glanced over his shoulder, Mom still had a tight grip on the little boy.

"Careful!" Five hissed as Luther grabbed for Klaus to grab him under the arms and slowly pull him free. His head was bleeding quite badly, he was covered in dust, making his skin appear ghostly white, interrupted only by the dark blood that ran over his face and neck. "Careful! He might have injured his spine or broken something - don't move him!"

Five’s words did nothing to calm Nathan down, of course. If anything, the little boy just got more hysterical, bawling his eyes out and clutching Grace for dear life. Allison took Nathan from her carefully, wrapping the little guy in her arms so that Grace could make their way over, carefully climbing onto the mountain of debris in her high heels. It would look ridiculous if it wouldn't be Mom. Thank God they had not shut her off, Diego thought at that moment as she carefully crouched down next to where Klaus and Vanya were.

"I don't register any spinal damage," She said after a moment and a sigh of relief washed through the group. "But move him carefully. He has two broken ribs, so be gentle. We don’t want them to pierce his lungs." 

Luther nodded, his lips a thin line as he pressed them together and carefully lifted Klaus out of the debris as if Klaus was a delicate china cup that he didn't want to damage with his brutish strength. The moment he had Klaus in his arms, however, the big guy took off as quickly as he could without jostling the debris too much. That left Diego and Five to get Vanya out. Vanya, who was covered in cuts, scratches, and dust but was largely uninjured at the very least. 

His sister was heavy in his arms and so was the guilt he felt as he was carrying her out of that war zone and into the reception hall. Luther shouldn't have attacked her, yes, but the true issue lay elsewhere, he felt. It lay with them as a family disregarding each other, ignoring each other, being uncaring, and cruel to each other. Vanya would not have erupted the way she had if Five had not killed her boyfriend like this. Vanya would not have erupted the way she had if Luther had not abused her trust in him and attacked her when she had felt safe and happy and seen for the first time.

And none of that would have happened, Diego thought, if their father would not have lied to them in the first place.

**-End of Chapter 9-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that I changed the quotation marks for the whole story. Quite frankly, I got a bit tired of explaining it, haha. I have, of course, still the original versions of the previous chapters. Tell me what you like better. I am willing to change it back if you guys like the other quotation marks better


	10. Chapter 10

Grief was hanging heavily in the air. He could almost taste it on his tongue. It was bittersweet and heavy. 

"Your father was a great many things - forthright was not one of them." Pogo said quietly. His face was one of grief and sadness as he stood near the door, leaned on his cane. Suddenly he looked very old and grey. They had gathered in the infirmary where two of their siblings were lying in bed covered in bandages and still unconscious. "He kept a great many secrets from you children because he was certain that it would be better this way."

Luther’s eyes were puffy and red. He was sitting as close to the door and as far away from the beds as humanly possible with still being in the same room. Nathan was occupying the bed of his father, snuggled into Klaus’ side, and still visibly shaken by the whole incident. Diego had taken over the chair right next to Klaus and Allison was holding Vanya’s hand while Five just hovered near the window and looked outside as if none of that would interest him in the slightest.

"He never even looked at them," Luther whispered barely audible. "Why not?" In his hands, he still held one of the white packages that he had apparently sent from the moon, the seal still unbroken. 

Maybe it was cruel of Pogo, maybe it was the punishment Luther deserved for attacking their sister. However, after everything had settled down a bit, Pogo had called them all together and handed Luther the package that he was still holding in his huge hands. Pogo, who had been like a father figure to most of them, had been determined to finally tell them about the things Sir Reginald had kept from them for decades now. And hell, it only took Vanya destroying a part of the house and Klaus being badly injured for Pogo to finally snitch on good old Reggie.

"After your accident, he wanted to give you purpose, Luther. He felt that this was the only way."

"What? Shanghaiing me on the Moon for four years?" He wanted to feel satisfied that his brother was being put down a peg by this revelation but he just couldn't feel anything but a certain sense of sympathy for him. Luther’s whole entire world came crashing down in front of them and he had no escape from the truth now. He could see the moment when Luther finally realized that their father had not been this wonderful, glorious person that he had been looking up to for all his life. "I wasn't a good enough Number One? That’s what it was? I couldn't cut it? So he sent me away?" Already his eyes were gleaming wet once more - even though Diego would have thought his brother wouldn't have any tears left now.

"No," Pogo said. "No, no that's not- Your father knew that the world would soon need you, Luther - need all of you. I can assure you that he thought that what he was doing was necessary." 

" _Necessary"_ Diego scoffed. "Yeah sure. Sending someone to the moon for four years for _nothing_. That sure was necessary. He gave his entire life for dad and that was the thanks he got?" He couldn't believe that he was defending his brother here but if anyone knew what it was like to not be good enough in their father’s eyes, it was him. Never good enough, never smart enough, never quick enough. Number Two. Always. Luther finally got to experience that pain for the first time and he felt for him. He really did. Despite the mess Luther had created today - he was still only human and they all had made mistakes.

"And I guess not telling us about Vanya and her powers was necessary too?" Five scoffed.

"Your father was … _afraid_ of your sister." Pogo confessed quietly and looked at the ground shortly. "Her powers were too big … and so he decided that it was best for all of you and for the world to take them away from her. He was worried that she might be able to hurt any of you after she had lashed out at him already."

The following story left them all quiet and dazed. None of them had any idea what to say or do about it. Allison was in tears, clutching Vanya’s hand with both of hers. She had been made an accomplice in their father’s cruel plans without knowing it, without remembering it. 

"He was a monster" Diego reiterated what he had said during the funeral. "Not only taking away her powers but also taking away her self-worth, leaving her out of everything, casting her to the side like garbage because _he_ was afraid of her. And he made _all of us_ accomplices in this charade." 

Pogo looked like he rather wanted to be anywhere but here right now. Understandably so. He was the one person in his house they had all trusted, after all. And he had been in the know about all of this. Pogo had decided to never speak up about the things that Reginald had done. That had been Pogo’s decision. In a way, he could still understand Pogo, though. At least he was speaking up now - even though they had almost lost two siblings today. 

"He knew about me." Nathan suddenly spoke up. His voice sounded hoarse and he looked incredibly exhausted so Diego brushed his free hand gently down Nathan’s back in silent comfort. "Reggie … He knew about me."

"Yes" Pogo silently admitted. "Sir Reginald kept … tabs on Klaus. On all of you." 

Diego breathed out a laugh. "Yeah, of course, he did!" He hissed. "Of course, he did keep tabs on him and still didn't tell any of us where our brother was or if he was even still alive out there!" 

"Your father was worried about your brother’s well being." 

Diego scoffed again but he wasn’t willing to argue anymore. He just wanted to understand everything that Pogo had told them. He could tell that his siblings felt the same way. They were exhausted and felt numb. And, fuck, Diego was just craving a stiff drink.

"What do we do with her now?" Five then asked and pointed at Vanya. "If she’s that much of a danger to the world, if she really is the apocalypse, what do we do?"

"We wait until she wakes up" Diego growled. "And we explain things to her - calmly. But maybe you and Luther shouldn't be in the room for that."

"I don't have to listen to-"

"You _shot_ her _boyfriend_ right in front of her without warning, Five." He hissed sharply and even Five flinched slightly as the sound. Diego couldn't help but find himself wondering if there was still enough human emotion inside of his brother for Five to see the error of his ways. Sure, shooting Harold Jenkins had been efficient in the moment - but Harold had not been the problem and in killing him, _Five_ had set off the bomb that could have killed them all. "You killed a man right in front of her and in front of your _nephew_ , I might add - instead of talking to Vanya first. I doubt she’ll want to see you." 

Luther, surprisingly, didn't argue with him. He kept his head down and just accepted what Diego was saying as if Diego had directed his last words at him. At least one of those two had enough self-perception to know that he had messed everything up in attacking Vanya. Luther nodded with a grunt before he rose from his seat. "Tell her I’m sorry, okay? I … I can never make up for what I did."

Allison gave him a watery smile before he turned and left the infirmary. Undoubtedly, he would go back to the living room and start cleaning the debris from the room just to busy his hands. Five, however, only gave a disgruntled groan before he zapped away from them.

※※※※※※※

The first thing he felt when he came to, was a massive fucking migraine. He felt as if an entire house had fallen on his head and came to wonder if that was what happened. He could barely remember what had happened. The second thing he felt was the feeling of a tiny warm body pressed into his side and soft curls tickling his neck. He was back in Greece again - just for a moment - lying in a hammock at the beach between old cypress trees with his son snuggled closely into his side while they were just relaxing in the sun after a long day of work. 

"Hey, gremlin" Klaus muttered quietly even though the sound made his head hurt. This only became worse as he opened one eye and was immediately stabbed in the head by the bright light that was shining down on him. 

"Daddy!" Immediately he was jostled by sudden movement beside him and hands patting his face. He was hurting all over and Nathan was too excited to really think about that, as it seemed.

"Careful." Another voice hummed, deep with exhaustion. "Don’t break your poor old father." 

He managed to open another eye and came face to face with Diego and Nathan. His brother was covered in dirt and dust. He looked a mess but he still smiled at him as Nathan was already pressing his cheek to his and wrapped his thin arms around his neck as tightly as he could.

"Who are you calling old?" He huffed quietly. "Hey … Everything is fine, Nugget." Of course, in Nathan’s eyes, nothing was fine. 

Slowly the memories of what had happened came back to him. He had gone toe to toe with Vanya - Vanya, his baby sister, who had powers. Vanya who couldn't control her powers. Vanya who had been provoked by their siblings and lashed out at them. He barely remembered their fight but he did remember the moment the ceiling had come crashing down on them and how it had been his instinct to protect his sister from the debris instead of jumping out of the way or even keeping the debris in the air. His own stupidity had once again almost killed him as it seemed. His baby would have almost been all alone in the world because of his own stupidity. He put his arms around the little guy and pressed a kiss to the side of his head as much as he could. "I’m fine." 

"But you aren’t" Diego chimed up and suddenly pinched his left hand. "You almost got killed because you are the biggest idiot in the universe." 

"Yeah, what else is new?" He muttered even though his heart was beating like mad as the realization truly hit him. He had almost died and what would have become of Nathan then? He was sure that Diego would have taken care of him and his other siblings as well but … his aunts and uncles would never be able to replace his father, right? The little guy had already lost his mother, after all. "Where’s Vanya? Is she-"

"She’s okay," Diego mumbled. "She got out with a few scratches and bruises - thanks to you. She’s in the kitchen right now, talking with Allison."

"How’s she doing?"

"I don't know" Diego sighed. Not what he wanted to hear, sure, but at least Diego was honest. "Not good, I guess. She just got to hear that she had always had powers and that dad had been lying to her and destroyed her life - also Five has killed her boyfriend."

"He was a bad man" Nathan suddenly whispered but still wouldn't let go of Klaus. "He was trying to manipulate Auntie Vanya … He was trying to set her up against you."

"How do you know?"

"I shook his hand" Nathan shrugged. "I saw how he broke in after Reggie’s death. He managed to break in when the coroner came. The house was swarming with people that day, no one noticed him - so he snuck into Reggie’s office and got his hands on Reggie’s journal. That's how he found out about her powers, I guess." 

"Mhm…" Klaus hummed quietly. "And we could have explained this all to Vanya calmly and nicely if Five had not shot this creep or if Luther had not tried to imitate an anaconda…" 

"He feels bad" Diego sighed. "I haven't even seen him for the past five hours or so. Pogo told him that Dad sent him to the moon for nothing. The old bastard never opened the reports and samples Luther sent down from the moon. Big guy was crushed."

"Understandable," Klaus muttered. That didn't excuse Luther from attacking their sister, though. "God … Dad was such an asshole." 

"Apparently, he kept tabs on you though - that's how he knew about Nathie."

"I am not surprised." Klaus huffed. "I guess that was his way of showing that he cared. I’m … touched. Truly." 

"How are you feeling, you donkey?" Diego finally asked what was burning underneath his nails since Klaus had opened his eyes again. It seemed a miracle that he was still here - truly.

"As if a house fell on my head. Why?" Klaus then breathed out in a chuckle as Nathan finally let go of him enough so that Klaus could have a proper look around. The three of them were alone - except for Ben who shot him a wary smile as he was leaning casually against a wall. Five was probably off brooding somewhere, just like Luther. He could only hope that Vanya was doing better now, that she would get over the shock of it all - then again, was there such a thing as getting over something like this?

"Shall I get Mom?"

"Hmmm … yeah. I want mommy." Klaus grinned and Diego flicked him against the ear. "I’m fine … Are you hungry, Nugget?"

Nathan shook his head but at least Diego got the hint. "I’m hungry though. I’m making waffles."

"You hear that? Go with Uncle Dee, he’s helpless around a kitchen. And save me a few waffles." 

Nathan didn't seem too happy about it but he didn't make a fuss about it either. He was exhausted and probably hungry but he also didn't want to leave his dad alone. It was cute but with a little nudge, Nathan slowly got off the bed and walked over to Diego to take his hand. Suddenly, all his bravado was gone and he was just a scared little boy. Under different circumstances, it would be cute.

"Don't worry" Ben said to Nathan as the little guy walked past him. "I’m watching him for you." Nathan nodded and finally left the room with Diego who was none the wiser and oblivious to the presence of their dead brother. 

"I’m sending Mom in to check on you."

"Fiiiiine" Klaus sighed and slumped back into his pillows a little more comfortably as he watched how Diego left the room with Nathan but left the door open. He remembered his first overdose and how he had lied in this exact bed afterward. Diego had only left his side when there was no other way - always leaving the door open, though.

"The boss was really freaked out." Ben sighed as he slowly walked over to his bed. "I’ve never seen him like this. He was in hysterics half of the time. But Batsy did a good job. He was there for him and tried to soothe him the entire time."

"Yeah, he was always a mother hen." 

"He had good practice with you." Ben chuckled. Fuck, wasn’t that true? Even if Grace had never been created, he was sure that Diego would have made up for a motherly presence in Klaus’ life. He was even more of a soccer mom than Klaus was. 

"Fuck … That was scary - almost dying and shit."

"Yeah, but at least you stopped Vanya."

"Nah, the ceiling did. I just distracted her." 

A moment later, Grace slowly walked into the room on her red heels. She smiled widely at him and paused in her steps for a second. "How are you feeling, Darling?"

"Peachy" He smirked even though every bit of movement hurt. Of course, his mother couldn't really give him anything for the pain, after all. Well, that would teach him to avoid standing underneath a collapsing ceiling. 

She chuckled quietly before she came over and started checking up on him and his injuries. Klaus was putty in Grace’s artificially soft hands. "I’m afraid you will need to stay in bed for a little while, Dear. You have two broken ribs and a skull fracture. You were lucky that we found you so quickly."

"Yeah, I’m a lucky guy, aren’t I?"

She pecked him on the cheek for that just as there was a faint knock on the open door. As he looked over his mother’s shoulder, he could see Vanya peeking in. She looked a bit haggard and gaunt, covered in cuts and scratches and bruises but at least she was up and walking around. He smiled at her in reassurance, which made her walk into the room at last. Vanya was visibly hesitant as she slowly approached him, fidgeting and fumbling with the hem of her denim shirt - that girl really needed a makeover - but Klaus quickly extended his hand to her. Grace slowly stepped away from the bed at that and Vanya walked closer to actually take his hand. 

"I’m gonna leave you alone now" Grace smiled. »I will be downstairs in the kitchen before your brother burns down the kitchen. I think he’s making you waffles."

Klaus just grinned as she walked out. Without hesitation, he pulled Vanya closer so that she would finally sit down on the edge of his bed. She looked like a deer in headlights, seemingly unable to say anything or find a way to start talking.

"How are you doing?" Klaus broke the awkward silence between them and squeezed her hand in reassurance. Good thing he had had so much practice with Nathan over the past couple of years. By now, he was much better at approaching people in distress as it seemed. 

"Good…" She whispered but was still avoiding his eyes.

"Yeah, mhm, I can see that, Babycakes." 

"I’m sorry … you almost died because of me."

"You felt threatened and you were in shock and you lashed out." Klaus shrugged. "I caused an earthquake once when I first learned to control my telekinesis. You just brought down a ceiling so, pshhht, _do better_ , Honey." He grinned and actually startled a small snort out of his sister. "So … how are you doing?"

"I don't know." She finally admitted with a shrug of her narrow shoulders before allowing them to slump again. "Confused, I guess. My whole life has been a lie, my boyfriend was manipulating me into hating my family and I fell right for it. I feel … so stupid. He seemed so nice … he said all the right things … How could I have been so stupid? But I felt … _seen_ for the first time. He looked at me like he saw something in me that no one else ever saw in me. He looked at me like I was special and I … I just wanted to believe him, you know?"

"I get it." He hummed. "I had this boyfriend once … Nathan was … Maybe eight, I guess. He was wonderful … truly marvelous. The nicest guy in the world, a complete sweetheart. He got me like no one else ever did and I fell right for it." 

"What happened?"

"He was a manipulative asshole" Klaus laughed. "Like Harold or Leonard or whatever his name was. He lured me in with being sweet and kind and caring and then, after a while, he started showing his true colors. Nathan knew what he was up to right from the start. He warned me about him but I wanted to believe that I finally found the love of my life. I was never in love before that and so … I bought into it. And … when he slapped me for the first time during an argument, I let it slide. I said to myself _‘He was just so angry, I provoked him too badly, he is probably sorry’_. Of course, that wasn’t the case. He apologized the next day and we moved on as if nothing happened - and then it happened again … and then he punched me in the face and got me a black eye. And I found more and more excuses. At one point I decided that I deserved it."

"What happened then?" 

"He hit Nathan." Klaus murmured. Guilt was still shooting right through him like an arrow every time he thought about that. "He slapped him one night and that was the moment I lost my shit. I didn't mind being pushed around or being hit too much but when he dared to put a hand on my baby, that was it."

"What did you do?" She looked at him with those big brown eyes in awe at his tale. He wanted to tell her that things would get better soon.

"I used my powers on him - threw him out of the window." Vanya gasped and the laughed and Klaus joined her in it. "It was more of an instinctive thing, though. He didn't die but … well, I think he learned a valuable lesson on that day. Leonard … He knew what he needed to say because of Reggie’s notebook, perhaps he even read your book as well. He knew how to get you to trust him. It's not your fault. Anyone could have fallen for that trap. I mean just imagine if he had been a hot guy with a cute smile! I would have been done for!" 

She nodded but he could still see the moisture in her eyes, so he lifted his hand and gently brushed the first tear away that she shed. "Hey, it's okay."

"I’m such a big baby" She muttered more to herself than him and Klaus knew that there was nothing he would be able to tell her that would make her feel less stupid and guilty. "I hurt you and here I sit crying about a guy who didn't even love me and who was just using me."

"No, it's okay" He mumbled. "It's fine. You are grieving and you are not a robot. It's okay to be sad and distraught. And that you lashed out … Well, you were attacked and Five was being a psycho as he shot your boyfriend right in front of you. You were afraid and in shock." 

"How do we move on from this, though? I feel like everything is broken now. I feel like there is no going back from this."

"We can still fix things. I mean, look at the bright side, yes? Apparently, you were the cause of the end of the world, so hooray. Now that we know that and now that we know that you have powers that even Daddy was afraid of, we can actually do something about all of this shit, right? We can help you control your powers so that you will not accidentally bring about the end times."

"But how? I don't even know what or…"

"I’ll help you." He promised her without hesitation. "When I first discovered my other powers, I was terrified and I mean I had a baby with me, right? If I would have flipped my shit I could have hurt him. I’ll help you. I believe our powers work similar, actually."

"In what way?"

"Your powers seem tied to your emotions." He then shrugged as if it was self-explanatory. Well, it kinda was. At least for someone who had grown up with powers. "Like mine. When I’m having a panic attack, I can't control the ghosts and keep them behind the veil, for example. When I start panicking they’ll come back and are right in my face again and that would only make my panic worse - which then might set of my other powers, which might cause an earthquake - and depending on how bad it is, I might be able to really fuck with the tectonic plates which in turn could lead then to global destruction. So, you see, you are not the only atom bomb in this room, Baby. The key to not inadvertently destroying humankind is to keep your head cool - and that I can teach you. But until then … maybe it would be better to take your pills again - little dosages, though. You don't want to be completely numb and then quit full-force. Going cold turkey is always a bad idea, Love."

"How did you do it?" She sounded so timid again and Klaus hated that. A few hours ago, it seemed now, she had come into this house to invite her siblings to her concert, her chest swollen with pride because of her achievements. "Learn to keep your head cool?"

"I didn't have much of a choice. When I first realized my potential and the danger that was tied to it, I knew that I didn't have a choice but to learn how to control my emotions better. I mean I was in the most stressful situation possible at that time with a toddler that was throwing tantrums all the time. Any tantrum of Nathan could have been the cause of the apocalypse back then if I wouldn't have understood the danger and got myself under control. And really … it was madness. I mean controlling my emotions has never been my strong suit, right? That’s why I turned to drugs in the first place!" 

"But weren't you scared?"

"I was pissing my pants" Klaus laughed. "But I was pissing my pants from the moment I first held Nathan ‘till now, Lady. I am, in fact, currently pissing my pants. Being a dad is the scariest shit I have ever experienced and I had some really bad trips when I was still on drugs! But I mean yes, of course, my new powers scared the crap out of me but it scared me more to think that I could hurt Nathie." 

"I would have never thought that my brother Klaus would ever be so insightful and mature." She gently teased. 

"I am full of surprises."

"I don't know if I can ever forgive Five and Luther for what they did, though." 

"Take your time." He assured her gently. "I learned in rehab that it's okay to set boundaries - especially with people you love or are friends with. You are allowed to say no and you are allowed to say that you cannot yet forgive them - that you might never be able to forgive them. And they need to accept that. If it helps, I think they both feel incredibly guilty." 

"Yeah … Luther is apparently in dad’s bedroom looking at all the unopened packages and reports and sorting them. He’s torturing himself, I guess." 

"Let him" Klaus sighed. "Maybe that's what he needs right now. He has his own grief to process now and so does Five." 

"Do you think we will ever find back together as a family?"

"Sure," Klaus muttered. For once he didn't even know if he was lying to her. "Yeah, I’m sure." 

※※※※※※※

As night fell, Klaus found himself with an arm full of his son once more in his sickbed. Diego had brought him waffles a few hours ago and hardly left his side anyway, cooing and fretting over him like a concerned mother hen while Ben was watching them smugly from the other end of the room. 

"You did well with Vanya today." Ben sighed finally after Diego had left the room for good to go to bed himself - not without tucking Nathan in on the bed beside Klaus, of course. "I think you helped her."

"I don't know about that," Klaus muttered quietly. "I mean she still looked pretty upset when she left."

"She has a lot to work through right now but I think she can do it."

"I hope you’re right, Benjamin. Hey … would you mind checking on everyone for me?"

"Sure." Ben grinned as he looked at him. He knew exactly why Klaus wanted him gone from the room for a few minutes. Even though he loved that he always had his ghostly brother around to help him with shit and to be a friend to Nathan, there were a few moments in the life of a parent that they just didn't want to share with anyone else. This right here was such a moment as Nathan snuggled closer into his side and looked at him out of puffy eyes. Only as Ben left the room, he turned to his son again and brushed his fingers through his hair.

"Today was scary, wasn’t it?" He mumbled quietly. It was easy to forget that Nathan was just a little boy sometimes. With all his bravado and cock-sure attitude, it was easy to think that he was much tougher than he actually was. Right now, his true age was showing through. Right now, he was just a scared little boy who was still coming to terms with the fact that he had almost lost his dad today. He nodded slowly and curled even more into his side. "I didn't mean to scare you like this."

"I thought you were dead." Nathan finally whispered quietly. 

"I know, Nugget." He replied. 

"Don't ever do something like this again."

"I won't." He sighed. "That really sucked."

"Why did you do it then?"

"I just … I didn't know what else to do, you know? I saw that Auntie Vanya was flipping out and I knew that the others would make it worse if they would stay. I knew that I was the only one who might be able to calm her down or knock her out. I just want you to know that … having powers as we all do, bears a responsibility."

" _With great power comes great responsibility_ , really dad?"

"Well, wise words from a wise man!" He laughed. "I just want to make sure you understand. We don't know if you will show more powers eventually, right? People like Vanya and me, we can become very dangerous when we become unstable, and sometimes we don't even want to be dangerous. That's why it's important to keep that in mind. We have to take responsibility for our actions and if we are the only ones who can help a situation because of our powers than it is worth the danger."

"But didn't you hate all this superhero crap your dad put on you?"

"Yeah … It's just … I understand him a little better now. And I want you to understand as well."

"Does that mean … we move into the academy? Can I become a part of the team?"

"Woah, I wouldn't go _that_ far!" He exclaimed. "But … yes, I thought about what you said. I think it's better to move into the academy. There are other people like this Harold-creep out there and you just never know what might be coming. I think we should stick together as a family and a team. And maybe one day you can become a member of the team … _maybe_."

**-End of Chapter 10-**


	11. Epilog

"How many fur coats can one man possibly have?" Diego asked as he pulled his head out of Klaus’ closet with an arm full of Klaus’ clothes - fur coats, in particular. In a way, Klaus was relieved to move into the academy because it meant that he didn't have to store his clothes in a spare closet in his son’s room anymore. Sooner or later, they would have needed to find a bigger apartment anyway. His back was already excited by the prospect of not having to sleep on a couch anymore.

"I don't know in what universe a man can ever have enough fur coats, Baby." Klaus huffed in response as he was packing up Nathan’s stuff. Most of the things that they would take with them, like books and memorabilia was already packed and in the car downstairs. It was weird to pack their entire lives into a few cardboard boxes and yet, it felt nice in a weird way. It certainly was the end of an era even though they had been living in this apartment for barely two years. It still marked the end of an era, though - the end of the time of them being alone in the world, the end of the adventures of Klaus, Nathan, and Casper.

A part of him was a bit sad about it too. A part of him was afraid to move back into that big, old house. The bigger part of him, however, was excited for this fresh start with his family, to know that his son would not be on his own but have his family around him and would be able to grow up with people who loved him and protected him. He knew now, after everything that they had been through, that his son would be taken care of if something would happen to him.

He sat down on Nathan’s bed for a moment at the thought, Nathan’s favorite teddy, Mr. Buttercrumb, still in his hands. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" Diego huffed with a small smile that was digging dimples into his face just like when they were kids. He could hear Nathan laugh from the living room where Luther was helping him to pack the rest of their things. Diego sat down next to him, the outrage over the fur coats forgotten for the moment. 

"Oh, nothing" He replied quickly and nudged Diego’s shoulder with his own. Diego, of course, just raised his eyebrows at his response. "Just realizing that we are actually moving back into the academy today."

"Is it a bad or good realization?" Diego then grinned.

"Good, I think" He sighed and shortly dropped his head on Diego’s shoulder. "I like being home again with all you guys - and Vanya is making progress too. It's good … I just think I’m kinda waiting for the other shoe to drop, right? And it will be a bit weird to not be alone with Nathie anymore." 

"A good weird?"

"A good weird." Klaus laughed. He sat up straight again and had another look around at the now barren room. There were a couple more pieces of clothing left in Nathan’s closet but his walls had been stripped of the posters he had hung up before and everything else, his toys and books, were already in another cardboard box. "At least now he has Mom and doesn’t need to suffer my weird food concoctions anymore."

"I bet he loved them." 

"Do you think I’m doing the right thing? I mean … preparing him to become part of the team?"

"I think that you have his best interest at heart. You’re a good mom." Diego huffed as Klaus joined him with a small chuckle. "And maybe the gremlin decides against it when he’s old enough anyway." 

"Yeah, maybe. But until then he will enjoy being drilled by his uncles and tutored by Pogo." 

"I think you meant to say tortured." Diego laughed. "I’ll never shake off the nightmares of Pogo giving us math lessons."

"Yeah, don’t remind me." Klaus laughed. "I remember bawling my eyes out when we were seven because I had such a hard time understanding that crap."

"Dad!" Nathan called from the living room. "Are you done yet? Uncle Luther and I are ready!"

"Well, we should better hurry or he rips our heads off." Diego laughed and got up from the bed to continue packing Klaus’ clothes. 

※※※※※※※

May hit the academy with a nasty thunderstorm that left Klaus lying wide awake in his old childhood bedroom. He still needed to renovate the room and unpack his boxes. One step at a time, right? At least Nathan’s room was done and looked exactly like the little nugget wanted it to look like. It was a good feeling to know that he could provide whatever the little guy might want now. For the first time, Nathan had been able to have his walls painted in the exact color he wanted and his furniture arranged how he wanted it. To Klaus, it was glorious just how much Nathan loved his new room.

As he laid in his bed and listened to the thunder rolling across the sky, he thought back to the nights of his childhood when lightning bolts had drawn haunting images on his walls and kept him awake for hours on end. He used to sneak out of his room - trembling like a leave - to hurry down the hall to Diego’s room and slip under his brother’s blanket. In Diego’s bed, he had always been safe. In Diego’s bed, under Diego’s blanket, the ghosts couldn't reach him, the nightmares couldn't haunt him, the thunder and lightning couldn't scare him.

He wanted to get up now and sneak into Diego’s bedroom. His brother had been too tired to go out doing his vigilante thing today after a whole day of renovation so he knew that he would find him in his room as well. It was tempting. Right as Klaus was about to swing his legs over the edge of his bed, however, the door of his bedroom creaked open. He still hadn’t shaken the habit of leaving his door ajar. For a second, Klaus held his breath and just listened to the sounds of the house and the pitter-patter of naked feet coming into his room.

"Daddy?"

A smile grazed his lips and he lifted his blanket as a silent invitation just like Diego used to do when he came to his brother for comfort. A second later, the bed dipped under the weight of his son before Nathan curled into his side.

"Can't sleep?"

He shook his head. "It's strange."

"Mhm … Sleeping in a new place the first night is always strange." He confirmed quietly and leaned his head against Nathan’s, closing his eyes. "It’ll get better, Munchkin. Hey, aren't you gonna miss your friends at school?" He knew that it wasn’t just the new place. Nathan haded thunderstorms as much as Klaus did and Klaus had learned by now that the best thing was to distract the little guy - just like Diego used to do with him. 

"No," Nathan said resolutely. He couldn't blame him. The other kids in school were all assholes. Except for that new kid that joined Nathan’s class a couple of months ago. Nathan sometimes spoke about the guy. "Well, maybe Barry." He then added before he snuggled even closer. "I don't like thunderstorms."

"Yeah, me neither," Klaus confessed with a smirk and combed his fingers through Nathan’s unruly curls. 

"Dad?"

"Mhm?"

"You need to start dating Uncle Diego." Nathan decided with a yawn. "Just in case. He can _actually_ cook."

"Okay." Klaus chuckled. "Whatever you say, Boss." 

**-End of Chapter 11-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this story! The epilog is not as long as I thought I would make it but the story was originally meant to have only 10 chapters anyway. However, I didn't want to add this part to chapter 10 tone-wise.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [GOODBYE, PEACE OUT](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26034508) by [Daise101](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daise101/pseuds/Daise101)




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